One of HLA's newer initiatives, Protecting the Health of Children with Disabilities , is helping families bring health care services into their home to enable children and young adults with disabilities to remain living at home instead of in an institution. Services delivered in the home, such as those provided by home health aides, nurses and personal care attendants (PCA), can make all the difference in keeping a child, or person of any age, living safely with their family. But, some families run into tremendous difficulty accessing these services even though they qualify.

HLA attorneys regularly represent children enrolled in MassHealth with significant disabilities who need in-home health services but have seen the number of hours that are covered by their insurance dramatically cut or even eliminated. Staff Attorney Elizabeth Ganz (profiled in this issue) leads this area of our practice. Our lawyers provide hands-on assistance to families in the evaluation process where the medical necessity of every service is documented as well as in the appeals process if they are denied coverage for services their clinicians believe they need. The Boston Foundation has provided generous support for this work.

HLA is also working to change the underlying policies that make it difficult for families to receive health services in the home. Our partners in this work are the Disability Law Center, Greater Boston Legal Services and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. Part of this effort was HLA's submission last year of comments to the state's Olmstead Planning Committee , a body charged with ensuring state services comply with the rights of individuals with disabilities. Attorney Ganz is pushing for systemic reforms as a member of the state's PCA Program Enhancements Advisory Council and HLA attorney Andrew Cohen is as well as a member of the state's Advisory Council to the Olmstead Planning Committee.

HLA strongly believes in fighting for families so they can receive services that keep them fully included in their communities.

On Monday, March 25th, the New Bedford Family Resource and Development Center operated by the United Way of Greater New Bedford became the fourth site to host a MHAP for Kids attorney! Thanks to funding received from the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General, HLA was able to expand to Bristol County and serve more young people who are at-risk of entering the juvenile court system due to unmet mental health needs.

The AGO has made a focused effort to improve young people's access to quality mental health care, and has recognized the remarkable outcomes MHAP for Kids has produced. When a MHAP for Kids attorney intervenes, school attendance improves, inpatient hospitalizations and emergency room visits decrease, and the overall mental health of the child and of their caregivers improve.

Within the past year, MHAP for Kids' capacity has doubled to four sites, proving that this service is a sought-after and cost-effective measure to keep kids out of the juvenile courts and connected to services that fit their needs. HLA is working to expand MHAP for Kids so that young people across Massachusetts have access to mental health care advocacy.

At the end of 2017, HLA was fortunate to welcome Attorney Elizabeth (Liz) Ganz to our team. An experienced health care advocate (and dog-lover), Liz has played a key role in HLA's work since joining us.

Access to affordable care was an ever-present theme for Liz growing up in Worcester as the daughter of a physician. She remembers, even at an early age, "public health was a topic of conversation at the dinner table." Liz earned her undergraduate degree with a double major in International Studies and Spanish at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and chose to pursue a law degree to better advocate for those who have difficulty navigating the complicated world of health care. She graduated from Boston University School of Law with a concentration in health law.

A Career in Public Service Advocating for Health Care Access

Liz began her legal career as a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Division. Next, she continued her career in public service as a Research Analyst with the Joint Committee on Health Care in the Massachusetts State House. There she collaborated with state agencies and advocacy groups, and drafted legislation and advised legislators on a range of topics including the creation of the state's Prescription Advantage Program. "It was a very exciting to be part of broad, large-scale change," Liz recalls.

Attorney Ganz paused her professional career to raise her two children but continued to volunteer her legal expertise to help consumers access health care. At the Serving the Health Information Needs of Everyone (SHINE) Program in Needham, Liz gave individual counsel to health care consumers, assisting them with claims processing and public benefit applications. Unlike her work at the Attorney General's office and at the State House, Liz worked one-on-one with individuals at SHINE. "It's satisfying to have that kind of connection. There's a tangible effect when you have those direct interactions."

Fighting for Justice in the State's Medicaid Program

At HLA, Liz co-leads our Public Programs team which advocates to ensure the MassHealth program responds to consumers' needs. Within that realm, she heads up HLA's Protecting Children with Disabilities Program which helps children with disabilities receive in-home health care services that keep them safe and healthy living at home so they don't have to be institutionalized.

At HLA, Liz carries a full caseload, brings the perspective of her clients to Beacon Hill in policy discussions, and performs public outreach to educate other advocates and consumers about health care access rights.

"Representing clients at HLA is very rewarding. You're entering their life at a trying time and your job is to problem-solve." Liz recently solved a big problem for one of her clients by relieving nearly $30,000 of medical debt. "There's so much work to be done, but those kinds of victories are big ones - even when it's a small amount at issue, we can make a huge difference for a family in a difficult situation."

After much anticipation, HLA's 23rd Annual Benefit Breakfast took center stage on Friday, January 11, 2019. Originally scheduled for October of 2018, HLA postponed the event to respect the workers' strike that was underway in the fall at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. We are immensely grateful to our supporters and speakers who graciously supported our decision.

January 11th became the big day once the stalwart hotel employees' union reached a deal with the hotel chain. More than 800 lawyers, health care professionals, business and education leaders and advocates gathered at the Sheraton to support a cause that we all deeply believe in: access to quality and affordable health care for all of Massachusetts.

HLA's Executive Director, Matt Selig, welcomed the attendees, giving special thanks to the Breakfast's premier sponsors: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the Mollie Baldwin Foley Charitable Trust, and Partners HealthCare, along with all of our very generous and supportive partners that have made HLA's work possible. See the full list of sponsors here .

As Matt finished his remarks, the lights lowered and the screen lit up with "Tristan's Story", a video about a client of HLA's Mental Health Advocacy Program for Kids . Tristan and his mom, Heidi, were consistently met with barriers to mental health treatment for young Tristan until MHAP for Kids stepped in. Watch the entire video below:

We were incredibly fortunate to have Christina Severin, President and CEO of Community Care Cooperative, and Jim Roosevelt, counsel at Verrill Dana, and former President of Tufts Health Plan, as the 23rd Breakfast's co-chairs. Champions of accessible health care in their own right, they worked tirelessly and graciously to fundraise for this event. They spoke on the importance of social determinants of health, the necessity of collaboration between the very people in attendance, and the need for HLA's work -- exemplified by this year's client speaker: Richelle Bates.

Richelle Bates came to HLA seeking gender-affirming treatment. She shared her story at the HLA Breakfast of being a transgender woman in need of affordable health care. Richelle's case is not uncommon within the transgender community, particularly among low-income trans individuals. Richelle spoke about the emotional toll of gender dysphoria, the hardship of paying for medical costs, and the impact HLA made in her life by getting her gender-affirming treatment and surgery covered by her insurance. We are so grateful to Richelle for sharing her compelling story on stage. The fight isn't over yet, she still has a journey ahead of her, but as Richelle said, "Andrew and I are still working together so I can get access to other health care services that will allow me to be my true self. Wish us luck. Though with HLA's help, I don't think we'll need it."

As Richelle left the stage, David Eure and Frank Wilkins serenaded the room on the violin and piano, and Mala Rafik, President of HLA's Board of Directors, followed with a call to protect the health of immigrants in our communities, and introduced this year's featured speaker: Sasheer Zamata.

Ms. Zamata is a comedian, actress, and writer. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for four seasons. She's played in numerous television and movie roles, and was listed in Time Out New York's Top 10 Funniest Women in NYC, Brooklyn Magazine's 50 Funniest People in Brooklyn, and serves as ACLU's Celebrity Ambassador for Women's Rights. Ms. Zamata gave a wry and hilarious performance, and we are immensely grateful to her for her flexibility in rescheduling her appearance at the event and working with us to make sure she remained our featured speaker!

HLA extends heart-felt gratitude to all of our sponsors, without whom our work would simply not be possible. On behalf of low-income health care consumers across the Commonwealth, we thank you.

See photos from the 23rd Benefit Breakfast here!

Allison Knight is HLA's newest attorney! Allison is our Mental Health Advocacy Program for Kids Staff Attorney in charge of the program's new site at the New Bedford Family Resource and Development Center. She joins us from the Public Defender Services Office of Lane County in Eugene, Oregon where she led the office's mental health team and assisted in the development of the Lane County Mental Health Court. Welcome to Allison!

Shannon Sullivan joined HLA in February 2019 as our Paralegal/Intake Coordinator. Shannon is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and just recently finished an AmeriCorps placement as a Refugee Vocational Case Manager with Jewish Vocational Services. She also has experience as a Residential/Group Home worker with LUK Inc. Crisis Center in Fitchburg. We're thrilled Shannon has also joined the HLA team!

Paulina Ruiz served as our Paralegal/Intake Coordinator through Northeastern University's co-op program from July through December of 2018. Paulina was a major asset to HLA as she served our clients with distinction and provided strong support to our team of attorneys. She will be graduating in May of this year and we wish her all the best!

Eugenie Aikens joined HLA in January 2018 as HLA's Paralegal/Intake Coordinator for six months prior to accepting the position as Development Assistant. In this key role, she ably assisted in the planning and production of HLA's Benefit Breakfast. Eugenie plans to graduate Northeastern in December 2019 and we are proud that she plans to pursue a law degree.