HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1637        FILED ON: 2/10/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2318

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Kate Hogan

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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 to improve access to family physicians.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1637        FILED ON: 2/10/2021

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2318

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1914 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act to improve access to family physicians.

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. Section 25N ½ of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended in subsection (b) by inserting after the words “primary care” in line 8 the words “and family medicine”.

SECTION 2. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the phrase “and family physicians” after “primary care providers” at the end of the first sentence of the first paragraph.

SECTION 3. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out in line 23 the number “50”  and inserting in place thereof “95”.

SECTION 4. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following new paragraph:—

The health care workforce center shall require applicants to include the following information and give preference to those applicants whom meet at least one of the following criteria: (1) Have a proven record of placing graduates in areas of unmet need; (2) Have a record or written plan of attracting and admitting underrepresented minorities and/or economically disadvantaged groups; or (3) host their programs and/or clinical training sites in areas of unmet need.

SECTION 5. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the phrase “9 to 12 month” in line 30 and inserting in placing thereof “3 to 4 year”.  

SECTION 6. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding at the end of the third paragraph:—

All resident trainees shall be assigned as the primary care provider for a continuity panel of patients and see those patients in that location no less than 40 weeks per academic year for each year of the residency.

SECTION 7. Said subsection (b) of section 25N ½, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof:—

The health care workforce center shall determine through regulation grant amounts per full-time resident, provided that grant amounts per resident are no less than 85% of the average CMS annual reimbursement rate per year and funding is provided for all of the 3 or 4 year residency.