HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4909        FILED ON: 7/8/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4495

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act relative to transfers between health funds.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide transfers between health funds, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

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

SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office for administration and finance shall transfer $15,000,000 from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund established in section 2OOO of chapter 29 of the General Laws to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund established in section 66 of chapter 118E of the General Laws. The executive office of health and human services and the health safety net office shall fund the hospital fiscal year 2017 payment amount to each hospital for services provided to low-income, uninsured or underinsured residents pursuant to said section 66 and 69 of said chapter 118E from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund. Payments may be made either as safety net care payments under the commonwealth's waiver pursuant to section 1115 of the Social Security Act or as an adjustment to Title XIX service rate payments or a combination of both. Other federally-permissible funding mechanisms available for public service hospitals, as defined by regulations of the executive office of health and human services, may be used to reimburse up to $70,000,000 of uncompensated care at the hospitals using sources distinct from the funding made available to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund. The secretary of administration and finance, in consultation with the secretary of health and human services and the executive director of the commonwealth health insurance connector authority, shall evaluate on a quarterly basis the revenue needs of the health safety net program funded by the Health Safety Net Trust Fund and subsidized health insurance programs funded by the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund and, if necessary, transfer money between these funds to ensure that sufficient revenues are available to support projected program expenditures. The secretary of administration and finance shall report any transfers made between the Health Safety Net Trust Fund and the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on health care financing at least 30 days before making any such transfers.

SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect as of July 1, 2016.