Commonwealth Care Alliance

Mission: Our mission is to provide the best possible care, tailored individually to the members we serve throughout Massachusetts–elders and people across the age spectrum with special healthcare needs. To accomplish this, we bring to scale proven clinical strategies that improve care and manage costs, within a team-based, consumer-directed, prepaid care delivery program.

About: The roots of Commonwealth Care Alliance can be found in a decades-long collaboration between dedicated clinicians, advocacy groups, community organizers, philanthropic funders, government agencies, and policymakers. Beginning in the 1970s, visionary leaders in Massachusetts came together and stayed together to build a statewide community health movement that arguably has no counterpart anywhere else in the country. Inspired by the values of human dignity, individual empowerment, and equitable access to care, this movement built a robust network of community health centers in low-income communities across Massachusetts and pioneered an array of care delivery innovations that improved the lives and independence of the frail, sick, and disabled.

Since 2003, Commonwealth Care Alliance has been nationally recognized for our highly individualized, compassionate healthcare programs. We were one of the original programs in Massachusetts created to serve the many people covered by Medicaid or “dually eligible” for both Medicaid and Medicare. Step by step, Commonwealth Care Alliance has helped Massachusetts to become the first state in the nation to fulfill the promise of effective healthcare reform, a goal that is now enshrined in national law through the Affordable Care Act.

In summary, Commonwealth Care Alliance:

• Is a not-for-profit, consumer-governed organization.
• Is a prepaid care delivery system for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with complex medical needs.
• Uses Medicare/Medicaid risk-adjusted premiums to redesign care for our members.
• Provides enhanced primary care and care coordination through multi-disciplinary clinical teams including physicians, nurses, and behavioral health and geriatric specialists.
• Provides coverage from early intervention to urgent care to long-term services and support.
• Creates savings from reduced hospitalizations and institutional care.

Partner Since: 2016

Founder (year established): Dr. Robert J. Master (2003)

Website: www.commonwealthcarealliance.org