Amendment ID: S2202-155

Amendment 155

Geographically Isolated Hospitals

Messrs. Cyr, Hinds and deMacedo move to amend the bill by adding the following section:-

SECTION XX. (a) Notwithstanding any general law, special law, or regulation to the contrary, an acute care hospital that meets at least one of the following criteria shall be exempt from the provisions of this act set forth in subsection (b) of this section: (1) has Sole Community Hospital status under Medicare; (2) is located at least 35 miles away from any other Massachusetts acute care hospital with the same Medicare classification; or (3) is geographically isolated such that there is no alternative acute care hospital in Massachusetts of the same Medicare classification accessible by road.

(b) Hospital meeting one of the criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this section shall be exempt from the following provisions of this act: (1) all provisions of the act concerning provider price variation, including without limitation those provisions included within sections 41, 112, 115, and 156; (2) all provisions of the act concerning the prohibition on facility fees, including without limitation those provisions included within sections 43, 70, 109, 142, 147-149; (3) all provision of the Act concerning out-of-network services, including without limitation those provisions including within sections 22, 103, 104, 109, 119; and (4) all provisions of the Act concerning the readmissions reduction benchmark, including without limitation those provisions included within sections 5, 6, 11, 13-16, 120, 123, 137, 159.