Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) allows healthcare dollars to support critical social services, while Accountable Care Organization (ACO)s serve as the bridge connecting eligible MassHealth members to those resources. By addressing the root causes of poor health, HRSN services can help individuals and families achieve greater housing stability, improved nutrition, better management of chronic health conditions, fewer emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and overall improved quality of life. These services are primarily available to eligible MassHealth members enrolled in an ACO who have identified social needs that are affecting their health.
If you are a MassHealth member enrolled in an ACO, your ACO may be able to help you with food and housing. These food and housing services are called HRSN Services.
Your ACO may be able to provide you with HRSN Services through local organizations in your community. Each ACO offers two or more of the HRSN Services listed below. You can check this list to see the HRSN Services that each ACO offers.
Please reach out to your ACO directly to learn more about what HRSN Services your ACO offers and if they are available to you. See this list of ACO Contacts to find contact information for your ACO.
If you need extra help understanding your MassHealth coverage, contact My Ombudsman. Free support is available in many languages.
List of HRSN Services (Each ACO offers a subset of these services)
Nutrition Services
- Medically Tailored Home Delivered Meals: These are prepared meals for people with specific health needs. Meals are made to best support a person’s specific health needs and are delivered to that person.
- Nutritionally Appropriate Home Delivered Meals: These are prepared meals that are good for a person’s health. Meals are delivered to the person who needs them.
- Medically Tailored Food Boxes: These are healthy groceries that are picked for a person’s specific health needs.
- Nutritionally Appropriate Food Boxes: These are healthy groceries. Often, they are a box of fruits and vegetables.
- Medically Tailored Food Prescriptions and Vouchers: These are gift cards for buying groceries that are for a person’s specific health needs.
- Nutritionally Appropriate Food Prescriptions and Vouchers: These are gift cards for buying healthy groceries.
- Nutrition Counseling: This service can help a person learn how to eat healthier.
- Kitchen Supplies: This service will buy cooking supplies for a person to help them eat healthier.
- Nutrition Education Classes and Skills Development: This service teaches a person about how to eat healthier.
Housing Services
- Housing Search: This service can help a person who is living in a shelter or on the streets find and move into housing.
- Transitional Goods: This service can help a person pay for the first month of rent, security deposit, and some furniture and furnishings. This service is for a person who was experiencing homelessness but is now moving into a home.
- Housing Navigation: This service can help a person who is having housing problems to talk to their landlord, get legal help, or find a new place to live.
- Healthy Homes: This service can help a person buy things and fix problems in a person’s home to make it healthier for them.
C3 (Community Care Cooperative)
Many BCCC members in New Bedford use C3 as that is the ACO for the health center. Referrals for HRSN services can be completed through this site: http://www.c3.findhelp.com/
WellSense
Two kinds of forms are available here: a WellSense HRSN Nutrition Referral Form 2026 and a WellSense HRSN Housing Referral Form 2026. When completed one or both should be emailed back to hrsnservicesreferrals@wellsense.org
Revere
The Revere HRSN Referral Form is available here and information where to send it is on the form. Once sent in someone from Revere will contact the family
Although these are the ACO’s some BCCC members work with, more information regarding referrals and providers can be found at: https://www.mass.gov/masshealth-health-related-social-needs-services
