SECTION 1. Chapter 118E of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 10H the following section:-

Section 10H 1/2. The office of Medicaid in consultation with the center for health information and analysis shall bi-annually conduct a review of the rates used by all governmental units in making payments to eligible providers of applied behavior analysis to publicly aided individuals pursuant to section 10H of this chapter. Said review shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) a comparison of payment rates paid to providers in jurisdictions with similar cost-of-living indexes;

(b) payment rates’ effect on recruitment and retention of qualified providers during the previous 5 fiscal years;

(c) increased cost of service delivery to comply with future accreditation or regulatory requirements;

(d) any services or eligible populations which were not mandated prior to the last rate review that may increase demand for services.

In each year the review is conducted the office shall report the findings of the review to (i) the clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate; (ii) the chairs of the House and Senate committees on ways and means; and (iii) the chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing not later than October 1 of the year prior to the release of updated rate regulations promulgated in accordance of this section.