SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Health Policy Commission shall annually conduct an analysis and issue a report on the impact of specialty drug costs on Massachusetts’ cost containment benchmark with said first report to be publicly issued by July 1, 2015 and annually thereafter on each July 1 and convene a discussion of this report and its implications at its annual cost containment hearings held pursuant to section 8 of chapter 6D of the general laws.

SECTION 2.  Subsection (d) of section 8 of chapter 6D of the general laws is hereby amended by striking the current subsection and inserting in its place thereof:-

(d) The commission shall identify as witnesses for the public hearing a representative sample of providers, provider organizations, pharmaceutical organizations, payers and others, including: (i) at least 3 academic medical centers, including the 2 acute hospitals with the highest level of net patient service revenue; (ii) at least 3 disproportionate share hospitals, including the 2 hospitals whose largest per cent of gross patient service revenue is attributable to Title XVIII and XIX of the federal Social Security Act or other governmental payers; (iii) community hospitals from at least 3 separate regions of the commonwealth; (iv) freestanding ambulatory surgical centers from at least 3 separate regions of the commonwealth; (v) community health centers from at least 3 separate regions of the commonwealth; (vi) at least 3 pharmaceutical companies with at least one being representative of and doing business in specialty pharmacy and at least one being representative of and doing business in generic pharmacy; (vii) the 5 private health care payers with the highest enrollments in the commonwealth; (viii) any managed care organization that provides health benefits under Title XIX; (ix) the group insurance commission; (x) at least 3 municipalities that have adopted chapter 32B; (xi) at least 4 provider organizations, at least 2 of which shall be certified as accountable care organizations, 1 of which has been certified as a model ACO, which shall be from diverse geographic regions of the commonwealth; and (xii) any witness identified by the attorney general or the center.