Bill S.2791

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2791

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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by inserting after section _ the followings:-

" SECTION _. Chapter 6A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 16BB the following section:-

Section 16CC. (a) There shall be a task force to make recommendations on aligned measures of health care provider quality and health system performance to ensure consistency in the use of quality measures in contracts between payers, including the commonwealth and carriers, and health care providers in the commonwealth, ensure consistency in methods for evaluating providers for tiered network products, reduce administrative burden, improve transparency for consumers, improve health system monitoring and oversight by relevant state agencies and improve quality of care. Through May 2021, the members of the task force shall be the members of the existing Executive Office of Health and Human Services Quality Measurement Taskforce. After May 2021, the task force shall include the following members or their designees: the secretary of health and human services, who shall serve as chair; the commissioner of public health; the commissioner of mental health; the executive director of the center for health information and analysis; the executive director of the health policy commission; the executive director of the group insurance commission; the assistant secretary for MassHealth; the commissioner of insurance; and at a minimum, 13 members who shall be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative of a provider trade association; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a medical society; 1 of whom shall be a behavioral health provider; 1 of whom shall be a long-term supports and services provider; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a community health center serving the Medicaid population; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a Medicaid managed care organization; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a statewide ACO;1 of whom shall be a representative of a commercial managed care organization; 1 of whom shall be a representative for persons with complex health conditions; 1 of whom shall be a representative for consumers; 1 of whom shall be a representative of a hospital; at least 1 of whom shall be an academic with expertise in health care quality measurement 1 of whom shall be a representative of an employer with experience in health care quality measurement, 1 of whom advanced practice nursing. Members appointed to the task force shall have experience with and expertise in health care quality measurement. The task force shall convene annually, with its first meeting occurring not later than January 15, and shall meet not less than monthly or as determined necessary by the chair of the task force. The task force shall submit an annual report with its recommendations, including any changes or updates to aligned measures of health care provider quality and health system performance, to the secretary of health and human services and the joint committee on health care financing not later than January 31 of each year with the first report due in the year following the effective date of this section.

(b) The task force shall make recommendations on aligned measures of health care provider quality and health system performance for use in: (i) contracts between payers, including the commonwealth and carriers, and health care providers, provider organizations and accountable care organizations, which incorporate quality measures into payment terms, including the designation of a set of core measures and a set of non-core measures; (ii) assigning tiers to health care providers in the design of any health plan; (iii) consumer transparency websites and other methods of providing consumer information and (iv) monitoring system-wide performance. The task force shall regularly review its recommended aligned measures of health care provider quality and health system performance, and shall update its recommendations each year.

(c) In developing its recommendations, the task force shall consider evidence-based, scientifically acceptable, nationally-endorsed quality measures, including, but not limited to, measures endorsed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance or the National Quality Forum. Such quality measures shall include, but not be limited to, measures used by the commonwealth, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the group insurance commission, carriers, and provider organizations in the commonwealth and other states, as well as other valid measures of health care provider performance, outcomes, including patient-reported outcomes and functional status, patient experience, disparities, and population health. The task force shall consider measures applicable to primary care providers, specialists, hospitals, provider organizations, accountable care organizations, oral health providers and other types of providers and measures applicable to different patient populations.

(d) No later than March 31 of each year, the secretary of health and human services in consultation with the commissioner of insurance, may establish an aligned measure set to be used by the commonwealth and carriers in contracts with health care providers that incorporate quality measures into the payment terms pursuant to sections 4 and 4A of chapter 32A, section 10K of chapter 118E, section 108N of chapter 175, section 8W of chapter 176A, section 4W of chapter 176B, section 4O of chapter 176G, and for assigning tiers to health care providers in tiered network plans pursuant to section 11 of chapter 176J. The aligned measure set shall designate: (i) core measures that shall be used in contracts between payers, including the commonwealth and carriers, and health care providers, including provider organizations and accountable care organizations, which incorporate quality measures into payment terms; and (ii) non-core measures that may be used in such contracts. In establishing the aligned measure set, the secretary of health and human services may consider factors including but not limited to quality improvement priorities for the Commonwealth, quality measurement innovation, data collection methodology, and measure feasibility.

SECTION _.Section 9 of chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “workers”, in line 8, the following words:- , the board of registration in naturopathy, the board of registration of recovery coaches, the board of registration of social workers, the board of registration of psychologists, the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions, the board of allied health professions, the board of registration of dieticians and nutritionists, the board of registration in podiatry, the board of registration in optometry, the board of registration of dispensing opticians, the board of registration of chiropractors, the board of registration of speech-language pathology and audiology, the board of registration of hearing instrument specialists.

SECTION _. Section 9 of chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “workers”, in line 8, the following words:- , the board of registration in naturopathy, the board of registration of recovery coaches, the board of registration of social workers, the board of registration of psychologists, the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions, the board of allied health professions, the board of registration of dieticians and nutritionists, the board of registration in podiatry, the board of registration in optometry, the board of registration of dispensing opticians, the board of registration of chiropractors, the board of registration of speech-language pathology and audiology, the board of registration of hearing instrument specialists.

SECTION _. Section 11D of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words “division of professional licensure” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- department of public health.

SECTION_. Section 79 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 17 and 18 and in line 27, the words “director of consumer affairs and business regulations” and inserting in place thereof, each time they appear, the following words:- commissioner of public health.

SECTION _. Section 84 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 8 and 9, the words “division of professional licensure” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- department of public health.

SECTION _. Said section 84 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 44 and 45, inclusive, the words “Division of Professional Licensure Trust Fund established in section 35V” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X.

SECTION _. Section 88 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words “division of professional licensure” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- department of public health.

SECTION _. The first paragraph of section 90 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence.

SECTION _. Said section 90 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- The commissioner of public health shall have authority to review and approve rules and regulations proposed by the board.

SECTION _. Section 94 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 13, the words “director of registration” and inserting in place thereof, the following words:- commissioner of public health.

SECTION _. Said chapter 13 is hereby further amended by adding the following section:-

Section 110. (a) There shall be, within the department of public health, a board of registration of recovery coaches which shall consist of 7 members to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of public health or a designee, 1 of whom shall be the commissioner of mental health or a designee; 1 of whom shall be employed as a recovery coach, 1 of whom shall be a family member to an individual with a substance use disorder, 1 of whom shall represent a health plan, 1 of whom shall be a licensed physician or nurse specializing in addiction, and 1 member of the general public.

Members of the board shall be residents of the commonwealth.

(b) Each member of the board shall serve for a term of 3 years. Upon the expiration of a term of office, a member shall continue to serve until a successor has been appointed. A member shall not serve for more than 2 consecutive terms; provided, however, that a person who is chosen to fill a vacancy in an unexpired term of a prior board member may serve for 2 consecutive terms in addition to the remainder of that unexpired term.

(d) The board shall, at its first meeting and annually thereafter, organize by electing from its membership a chair, a vice-chair and a secretary. Those officers shall serve until their successors are elected.

(e) The board shall meet at least four times annually and may hold additional meetings at the call of the chair or at such times as may be determined by the board. Board members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

SECTION _. Section 1 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “dentistry”, in line 12, the following words:- , the board of registration of genetic counselors, the board of registration of community health workers, the board of registration in naturopathy, the board of registration of recovery coaches, the board of registration of social workers, the board of registration of psychologists, the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions, the board of allied health professions, the board of registration of dieticians and nutritionists, the board of registration in podiatry, the board of registration in optometry, the board of registration of dispensing opticians, the board of registration of chiropractors, the board of registration of speech-language pathology and audiology, the board of registration of hearing instrument specialists.

SECTION _. Section 23B of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 23A to 23P½, inclusive, and section 61,shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 23M½ of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 78 to 79, the words “Division of Professional Licensure Trust Fund established by section 35V” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X.

SECTION _. Section 68 of said chapter 112, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61, 66 to 73B, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 73E of said chapter 112, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61, and 73C to 73M, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 91 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 89 to 97, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 126 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 118 to 129B, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 136 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 130 to 137, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 140 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 138 to 147, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 168 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 163 to 172, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 197 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:-

(h) All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and this section to 200, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. Section 203 of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- All application fees and civil administrative penalties and fines collected by the board under sections 61 and 201 to 210, inclusive, shall be deposited into the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10.

SECTION _. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Department”, the department of public health.

“Division”, the division of professional licensure.

“Transferring Boards”, the board of registration of social workers, the board of registration of psychologists, the board of registration of allied mental health and human services professions, the board of allied health professions, the board of registration of dieticians and nutritionists, the board of registration in podiatry, the board of registration in optometry, the board of registration of dispensing opticians, the board of registration of chiropractors, the board of registration of speech-language pathology and audiology, and the board of registration of hearing instrument specialists.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the division and the department shall develop and implement a transfer agreement providing for the orderly transfer of personnel, proceeds, rules and regulations, property and legal obligations and functions of the transferring boards from the division to the department.

(c) All petitions, requests, investigations, filings and other proceedings appropriately and duly brought before, or pending before, the transferring boards, before the transfer, shall continue unabated and remain in force, and shall be assumed and completed by the transferring boards after transfer to the department.

(d) All orders, advisories, findings, rules and regulations duly made and all approvals duly granted by the transferring boards, which are in force immediately before the transfer, shall continue in force and shall thereafter be enforced, until superseded, revised, rescinded or canceled, in accordance with law, by the transferring boards after transfer to the department.

(e) All books, papers, records, documents, equipment, cash and other property, both personal and real, including all such property held in trust, which immediately before the transfer are in the custody of the transferring board or the division on behalf of the transferring board, shall be transferred to the department.

(f) All duly existing contracts, leases and obligations of the transferring boards, shall continue in effect after transfer to the department. No such existing right or remedy of any character shall be lost, impaired or affected by this act.

(g) In consultation with the secretary of administration and finance, the department and the division, in developing the transfer agreement required under subsection (b), shall identify the portion of unexpended balances of the Division of Professional Licensure Trust Fund established in section 35V of chapter 10 that are allocated to the operations of the transferring boards, including but not limited to payment of salaries, wages, fringe and indirect costs, and all compensation for those employees identified in subsection (i); administrative expenses; information technology expenses; and indirect expenses. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, upon transfer of the transferring boards, the comptroller shall transfer such portion of the unexpended balances of the Division of Professional Licensure Trust Fund established in section 35V of chapter 10 of the General Laws to the Quality in Health Professions Trust Fund established in section 35X of chapter 10 of the General Laws.

(h) The comptroller shall take the overall cash flow needs of the commonwealth into consideration in determining the timing of any transfer of funds provided for in subsection (g). The comptroller shall provide a schedule of transfers to the secretary of administration and finance and to the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means.

(i) The transfer agreement required under subsection (b) shall identify the number of allocated employees of the division, rounded to the nearest full time employee equivalent, who are engaged in the work of the transferring boards, in whole or in part, including but not limited to licensing functions, investigation, prosecution and adjudication. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, an equivalent number of division employees shall become employees of the department upon the execution of the transfer agreement required under subsection (b) or 18 months from the effective date of this act, whichever occurs first. The employees selected to transfer from the division to the department shall have been engaged in the work of the transferring boards, in whole or in part, prior to the transfer.

All officers and employees of the division transferred to the department as required under subsection (i) shall be transferred without impairment of seniority, retirement or other statutory rights of employees, without loss of accrued rights to holidays, sick leave, vacation and other benefits, and without change in union representation or certified collective bargaining unit as certified by the state labor relations commission or in local union representation or affiliation, except as otherwise provided in this act. Terms of service of employees of the program shall not be deemed to be interrupted by virtue of transfer to the department.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to confer upon any employee of the division transferred to the department as required under subsection (i) any right not held immediately before the date of said transfer or to prohibit any reduction of salary grade, transfer, reassignment, suspension, discharge, layoff or abolition of position not prohibited before such date.

(j) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the terms and conditions of any collective bargaining agreement that is in effect upon the transfer with respect to employees of the division transferred to the department as required under subsection (i) shall continue in effect until the stated expiration date of such agreement, at which point the agreement shall expire; provided, however, that all such employees shall continue to retain their right to collectively bargain under chapter 150E of the General Laws and shall be considered employees of the department.

SECTION_. The above sections inclusive, shall take effect upon the execution of a transfer agreement between the department of public health and the division of professional licensure or 18 months after the effective date of this act, whichever occurs first.”