Amendment #1145 to H4700

Data Reporting

Ms. Balser of Newton moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XXXX. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of health and human services, in collaboration with the department of public health, shall conduct or provide for an examination of the prescribing and treatment history, including court-ordered treatment or treatment within the criminal legal system, of persons in the commonwealth who suffered fatal overdoses in calendar years 2019 to 2021, inclusive, and annually thereafter, and shall make a report in an aggregate and de-identified form on trends discovered through the examination.

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, to facilitate the examination, the department of public health shall request, and the relevant offices and agencies shall provide, information necessary to complete the examination from the division of medical assistance, the executive office of public safety and security, the center for health information and analysis, the office of patient protection, the department of revenue and the chief justice of the trial court, which may include, but shall not be limited to: data from the prescription drug monitoring program; the all-payer claims database; the criminal offender record information database; and the court activity record information. To the extent feasible, the department shall request data from the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, Inc. relating to treatment within houses of correction.

Not later than 1 year from the effective date of this act and by July 1 annually thereafter, the secretary of health and human services shall publish a report on the findings of the examination, including but not limited to: (i) the overall prescription history of the individuals, including both agonist and antagonist medications for opioid use disorder; (ii) the mental and behavioral health and substance use treatment history of the individuals, including an outcomes comparison of voluntary versus involuntary treatment, controlling for other factors; (iii) structural factors that contribute to heightened risk of overdose, including but not limited to employment status, housing status, criminal legal involvement, income, medical comorbidities, including but not limited to bacterial or viral infections and substance use sequalae, and other demographic markers, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation and immigration status; (iv) trends in the substances observed in overdose events; (v) whether the individuals had attempted to enter but were denied access to mental or behavioral health or substance use treatment; (vi) whether the individuals had received past treatment for a substance overdose; and (vii) whether any individuals had been previously detained, committed or incarcerated and, if so, whether they had received treatment and treatment type during the detention, commitment or incarceration.

The initial report and subsequent annual reports shall be filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery, the joint committee on public health, the joint committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means.

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the executive office of health and human services may contract with a non-profit or educational entity to conduct data analytics on the data set generated in the examination, provided that the executive office shall implement appropriate privacy safeguards.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #1145 to H4700

Data Reporting