HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 978        FILED ON: 1/19/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 348

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Alice K. Wolf

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act establishing the Massachusetts childhood vaccine program.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 978        FILED ON: 1/19/2011

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 348

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3453 OF 2009-2010.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act establishing the Massachusetts childhood vaccine program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 118H the following chapter:-

CHAPTER 118I

Section 1:  Definitions.   The following words, as used in this section, unless a different meaning is required by the context or is specifically prescribed, shall have the following meanings:        

     “Health care provider”, a clinician, a facility or a physician group practice. 

     “Surcharge payors”, those entities defined as surcharge payors under section 34 of chapter 118G of the General Laws, whose assessment may be collected in a manner consistent with said chapter 118G.

     “Routine childhood immunizations”, immunizations for children until their nineteenth birthday, including, but not limited to, the immunizations recommended by the federal Vaccines for Children Program and any immunizations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

     “Total non-federal program cost”, the estimated annual cost of the purchase, storage and distribution of vaccines needed for routine childhood immunizations for all children in the commonwealth less the amount of federal revenue available to the commonwealth for purchase, storage, distribution and administration of such vaccines, as well as the costs of administering the Vaccine Purchase Trust Fund and the Massachusetts immunization registry established pursuant to section 24M of chapter 111.

Section 2:  (a) A separate trust fund to be known as the Vaccine Purchase Trust Fund, in this section called the “Fund,” is hereby established to support a universal purchase system for childhood vaccines in the commonwealth.  The specific purpose of the Fund shall be to cover total non-federal program costs for childhood immunizations.  The Fund shall consist of all monies paid to the commonwealth under subsection (c) and any interest earnings on such monies.  The Fund shall be maintained by the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy or the commissioner’s designee.  The monies shall be expended under the direction of the department of public health, without prior appropriation, solely for the purposes described in this section.  Any balance in the Fund at the close of a fiscal year shall be available for expenditure in subsequent fiscal years and shall not be transferred to any other fund or revert to the General Fund.  The commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy or the commissioner’s designee shall report annually to the house and senate committees on ways and means the amount of funds collected and all expenditures made from the Fund.

     (b) There shall be a vaccine purchase advisory council consisting of the commissioner of public health or the commissioner’s designee; the medical director of the Massachusetts Immunization Program of the department of public health; the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy or the commissioner’s designee; the executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority or the executive director’s designee; the medical directors of the three health insurance companies having the most covered lives in the commonwealth; and eight health care provider representatives appointed by the commissioner of public health,  two of whom shall be members of the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians, two of whom shall be members of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, two of whom shall be nurses or other clinicians licensed in the commonwealth who have expertise in the area of childhood vaccines, one of whom shall be a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, and one of whom shall be a physician licensed to practice in the commonwealth who has expertise in the areas of childhood vaccines.  The commissioner of public health, or the commissioner’s designee, shall be the chair of the council.  The council shall recommend the types of vaccines to be purchased based on a list of routine childhood immunizations and shall take into account provider preference, cost, availability, and other factors as determined by the council. The council shall recommend the amount of funding needed each fiscal year by calculating the total non-federal program cost. The council shall have independent authority to make recommendations required by this subsection. The commissioner of the department of public health shall determine the final vaccines to be purchased. The commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy shall determine the final amount required to be included in the Vaccine Purchase Trust Fund for the next fiscal year to cover vaccines required for purchase, storage and distribution pursuant to this subsection, as well as the costs of administering the Vaccine Purchase Trust Fund and the Massachusetts Immunization Registry.

     (c) Pursuant to regulations to be promulgated by the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy, each surcharge payor in the commonwealth shall pay to the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy, for deposit in the Vaccine Purchase Trust Fund, a routine childhood immunizations fee for the total non-federal program costs assessed by the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy. The regulations shall establish dates for assessing and contributing such fee and shall permit and enable expenditure of funds by the department of public health. The annual contribution into the trust fund initially shall be deposited by July 1, 2011 and annually thereafter.  Such fee shall be a percentage of the final amount determined by the commissioner of the division of health care finance and policy pursuant to subsection (b).           

     (d)  The department of public health may promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement the universal purchase and distribution system, in accordance with this section and other applicable state and federal laws.