SENATE DOCKET, NO. 162        FILED ON: 1/12/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 631

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

John F. Keenan

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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 relative to the utilization of public health benefits by large employers.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 162        FILED ON: 1/12/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 631

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to the utilization of public health benefits by large employers.

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. Chapter 12C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new section:-

Section 23. The Center shall annually prepare a public health program beneficiary employer report. For the purposes of this section, a "public health program beneficiary" shall mean a person who receives medical assistance or medical benefits, or who receives assistance through the health safety net trust fund, under chapter 118E of the General Laws.

The report shall provide the following information for each employer of 50 or more public health program beneficiaries: (1) The name and address of the employer; (2) the number of public health program beneficiaries who are employees of the employer; (3) the number of public health program beneficiaries who are spouses or dependents of employees of the employer; (4) whether the employer offers health benefits to its employees; and (5) the cost to the Commonwealth of providing public health program benefits for their employees and enrolled dependents.

The report shall not include the names of any individual public health access program beneficiaries and shall be subject to privacy standards pursuant to Public Law 104-191, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

The report shall be submitted annually on February 1 to the clerks of the house and the senate, to the joint committee on health care financing, and to the house and senate committees on ways and means.

SECTION 2. Section 3 of Chapter 62E of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 12, “and” immediately preceding “(3) for purposes of administering the tax laws and the child support enforcement program of the commonwealth” and inserting after “(3) for purposes of administering the tax laws and the child support enforcement program of the commonwealth” the following new subparagraph:-

(4) for the purpose of assisting the center for health information and analysis in preparing a public health program beneficiary employer report.