SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1778 FILED ON: 1/14/2009
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 800
|
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the Year Two Thousand Nine
_______________
Resolve An Act establishing a Commission to Reduce Unnecessary Wait Time for Children with Special Health Care Needs To Receive Needed Medical Equipment Such as Wheelchairs and Lifts..
Resolved, that it is a priority of the commonwealth to ensure that children with special health care needs receive the appropriate necessary medical equipment in a timely manner. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary a commission shall be established to examine the process by which children with special health care needs receive durable medical equipment and make recommendations about how to reduce the barriers that children and their families currently face in receiving medically necessary and physician-prescribed equipment including, but not limited to, wheelchairs and lifts. Said Commission shall be known as "The Commission to Reduce Wait Time for children with special health care needs to receive needed medical equipment". The commission shall be chaired by the Commissioner of Public Health and the Commissioner of the Division of Medical Assistance, and shall consist of the President of the Senate or her designee, The minority leader of the Senate or his designee, The Speaker of the House of Representatives or his designee, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives or his designee, the House and Senate Chairpersons of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing or their designee, a parent of a child with special health care needs to be appointed by the Governor, a licensed physician who treats children with special health care needs to be appointed by the Governor, the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Consortium for Children with Special Health Care Needs, a designee of Children's Hospital Boston, and a designee of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans.
The Commission shall be directed to make recommendations for fair and suitable guidelines for private health insurers, the State Medicaid program, and vendors to promptly process prescriptions for durable medical equipment for children with special health care needs. The Commission will report its findings to the clerk of the Senate and clerk of the House of Representatives as well as the House and Senate committees on Ways and Means no later than December 31, 2009.