To cancel MassHealth, you report the change that makes you ineligible — new employer insurance, a move out of state, or a switch to a Health Connector plan — and the state ends your coverage on the last day of that month. You can report it online, by phone, by fax, or by mail. The process takes about fifteen minutes, and reporting promptly is how you avoid both a coverage gap and a later bill from the state.
What to Have Ready
Pull a few things together before you contact MassHealth. You need the full legal name, date of birth, and MassHealth Member ID for each person whose coverage is ending. The Member ID is printed on the plastic card the state issued when coverage began.1Mass.gov. Sample MassHealth Termination Notice Have the Social Security number on file ready too, since representatives use it to find your account.
Know the date you want coverage to stop and the reason it is ending. If you are moving to employer insurance, have the new coverage start date in front of you so you can line up the two. If only one household member is leaving MassHealth and the others are staying, say so clearly in every communication. The state has processed accidental household-wide cancellations before, and the easiest way to prevent one is to name the specific people whose coverage should end.
Four Ways to Report the Change
MassHealth treats a cancellation as a reported change in your situation rather than a standalone request. You tell the state what changed, and the state updates your eligibility.
Online
The fastest option is to log in at MAhealthconnector.org and update your household information — income, address, insurance status, family size — through the report-a-change section.1Mass.gov. Sample MassHealth Termination Notice Save or screenshot the confirmation screen before you close the browser.
By Phone
Call the MassHealth Customer Service Center at (800) 841-2900 (TTY: 711), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.2Mass.gov. Contact MassHealth Information for Members Follow the prompts to reach an enrollment specialist, verify your identity, and explain what changed. Ask for a reference or confirmation number before you hang up.
By Fax
Fax a written request or a completed change form to 1-857-323-8300.1Mass.gov. Sample MassHealth Termination Notice Include your name, Member ID, what is changing, and the date you want coverage to end. Keep the transmission confirmation page.
By Mail
Print the Report a Change form from the Member Forms page on mass.gov, fill it out, and mail it to:3MassHealth. Report Changes to MassHealth
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Health Insurance Processing Center
PO Box 4405
Taunton, MA 02780
Members 65 or older can fill out the Report a Change Form online instead of printing it. Mail takes longer than the other methods because of transit and manual processing, so leave extra days if your timeline is tight. Certified mail gives you a dated delivery receipt if a dispute later comes up about when you submitted the request.
When Your Coverage Actually Ends
For voluntary cancellations, the coverage end date is the last day of the month in which you request the termination.4Massachusetts Health Connector. Policy NG-10 Termination of Coverage – Voluntary Report the change on March 12 and your MassHealth coverage runs through March 31. This end-of-month rule drives everything about timing your next plan.
MassHealth mails a written termination notice to the last address on your account, confirming the effective date your benefits ended and explaining your appeal rights.5Massachusetts Health Connector. Medicaid Redeterminations and Enrollment in Employer Coverage Frequently Asked Questions for Employers Keep it. You will likely need it as proof of loss of coverage when you enroll in a new plan.
Lining Up Your Next Plan So You Are Not Uninsured
The real risk of canceling MassHealth is a stretch of days with no coverage. The fix is coordinating your report date with when your next plan begins.
If You Are Moving to Employer Coverage
Loss of MassHealth is a HIPAA special enrollment event, and you or a family member have up to 60 days to request enrollment in an employer’s plan outside the usual open enrollment window.5Massachusetts Health Connector. Medicaid Redeterminations and Enrollment in Employer Coverage Frequently Asked Questions for Employers Employer plans often begin on the first of the month after you enroll, so time your MassHealth report so the end-of-month termination aligns with the employer start date. A short gap is easy to create if you report in one month and the employer coverage does not start until the second of the next.
If You Are Moving to a Marketplace Plan
Losing Medicaid triggers a special enrollment period of at least 90 days on the Health Connector or federal marketplace.6KFF. Are There Special Timelines for Enrolling in the Marketplace for People Who Lose Medicaid or CHIP Keep your MassHealth termination notice handy, because the marketplace will ask for proof you lost coverage.
One caution for 2026: under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the previous caps on repayment of excess Advance Premium Tax Credits have been eliminated. If you enroll in a subsidized marketplace plan and your actual income comes in higher than you projected, you could owe back the full amount of excess credits at tax time with no cap. Estimate your income carefully on the marketplace application after leaving MassHealth.
Confirm the Cancellation Went Through
Do not assume the change was processed just because you submitted it. After a couple of weeks, log into your account at MAhealthconnector.org and check whether your enrollment status shows as closed or terminated. If it still shows active, call (800) 841-2900 to follow up.2Mass.gov. Contact MassHealth Information for Members
While your case stays open, the state may keep paying managed care premiums for you. If MassHealth later finds out you had other coverage during that stretch, it can pursue the overpayment. A five-minute check now prevents a bill later.
What Happens If You Do Not Report the Change
Letting it slide is costly. If you gain employer insurance or move out of Massachusetts but never tell MassHealth, the state keeps paying for your coverage. When the mismatch turns up in a routine eligibility review or a federal data match, MassHealth can recover the overpayments, meaning you repay the cost of coverage you should not have been receiving.
Deliberately hiding a change to keep benefits you know you no longer qualify for crosses into fraud under federal and state Medicaid statutes, which carry fines and possible criminal charges. For most people the realistic risk is not prosecution but an unexpected bill from the state for months of coverage that should have ended. Reporting the change on time avoids both.
If MassHealth Terminates You and You Disagree
A voluntary cancellation you reported and the state processed correctly is not something to appeal. But if MassHealth ends coverage for the wrong family member, uses the wrong end date, or terminates you involuntarily when you believe you still qualify, you can request a fair hearing. The Board of Hearings must receive your request within 60 calendar days from the date you received the termination notice.7Mass.gov. How to Appeal a MassHealth Decision