HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2719        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 978

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Mark J. Cusack

_________________

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 expanding the distressed hospital fund to the moral obligation bond program.

_______________

PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2719        FILED ON: 1/16/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 978

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1016 OF 2013-2014.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

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

_______________

An Act expanding the distressed hospital fund to the moral obligation bond program.

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

Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law or regulation to the contrary:

A.Section 2-10 of Appendix to Chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following subsection after subsection (g):

“(h)  For the benefit of nonprofit community hospitals,  the authority shall establish a special funds to be known as the Community Hospital Short-Term Loan Fund and, to the extent so created, shall be funded from the Distressed Hospital Fund established under section 29 of chapter 224 of the acts of 2012 as follows: an amount equal to fifty percent of the required maximum debt service reserve fund amount on any nonprofit community hospital bonds then to be issued shall be paid into in the Community Hospital Short-Term Loan Fund up to a maximum amount of ten million dollars.”  

B.Paragraph (g)(11) of Section 2-10 of Appendix to Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as added by section 21 of chapter 9 of the acts of 2011, is hereby amended by deleting it in its entirety and inserting the following:

“Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, in the event that a nonprofit community hospital fails to reimburse the commonwealth for any transfer made by the commonwealth to the authority to replenish the Community Hospital and Community Health Center Capital Reserve Fund under paragraph 3 within 6 months after any such transfer and as otherwise provided under the terms of the agreement among the nonprofit community hospital, the authority and the commonwealth authorized under paragraph 7, the nonprofit community hospital may access the Community Hospital Short-Term Loan Fund to reimburse the commonwealth to cover all or portion of the amount the nonprofit community hospital has failed to pay the commonwealth, provided that the nonprofit community hospital replenishes the Community Hospital Short-Term Loan Fund in-full within 12 months of accessing such funds.  In the event that the nonprofit community hospital does not replenish such funds, the secretary of administration and finance may, in the secretary’s sole discretion, direct the comptroller to withhold any funds in the comptroller’s custody that are due or payable to the nonprofit community hospital to cover all or a portion of the amount the nonprofit community hospital has failed to pay the commonwealth to reimburse the commonwealth for any such transfers.      

In the event that a nonprofit community health center fails to reimburse the commonwealth for any transfers made by the commonwealth to the authority to replenish the Community Hospital and Community Health Center Capital Reserve Fund under paragraph 3 within 6 months after any such transfer and as otherwise provided under the terms of the agreement among the nonprofit community health center, the authority and the commonwealth authorized under paragraph 7, the secretary of administration and finance may, in the secretary’s sole discretion, direct the comptroller to withhold any funds in the comptroller’s custody that are due or payable to the nonprofit community health center to cover all or a portion of the amount the nonprofit community health center has failed to pay to the commonwealth to reimburse the commonwealth for any such transfers.

All contracts issued by the group insurance commission, the commonwealth health insurance connector authority and MassHealth to a third party for the purposes of providing health care insurance paid for by the commonwealth shall provide that, at the direction of the secretary of administration and finance, the third party shall withhold payments to a nonprofit community hospital or nonprofit community health center which fails to reimburse the commonwealth under the agreement authorized under paragraph 7 and shall transfer the withheld amount to the commonwealth. Any such withheld and transferred amounts shall be considered to have been paid to the nonprofit community hospital or nonprofit community health center for all other purposes of law, and the nonprofit community hospital or nonprofit community health center shall be considered to have reimbursed the commonwealth in an amount equal to such withheld and transferred funds for purposes of the agreement authorized under said paragraph 7.