SECTION 1. There shall be a special commission governed by section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws to: (i) assess public transparency at the Group Insurance Commission with respect to its procurement and contracting processes; (ii) make recommendations to improve transparency at the Group Insurance Commission including, but not limited to, requiring the public disclosure of its vendor contracts involving health care costs and pharmaceutical pricing; (iii) evaluate the potential use of reference based pricing as a means of making medical costs through the Group Insurance Commission affordable and uniform; (iv) investigate the value and viability of a public option health insurance plan available to public and non-public employees in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The commission shall file its findings and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry those recommendations into effect, with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the chairs of the senate and house committees on public service and the chairs of the senate and house committees on health care financing not later than December 1, 2019.

The commission shall consist of 1 member who shall be appointed by the senate president, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; 1 member who shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; the secretary of administration and finance or a designee; and 1 member to be appointed by each of the following organizations: the Massachusetts Teachers Association; the American Federation of Teachers, Massachusetts; the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts; the Massachusetts Public Employees Council, #93, AFSCME, Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL CIO; Massachusetts State Employees Association, NAGE; the Massachusetts Municipal Association; the Massachusetts Chapter of the AFL CIO; and the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists.