Amendment #801 to H4700

Permissible Use Standards for Hospitals

Ms. Barber of Somerville moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XX. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) shall develop and implement rules and regulations establishing permissible use standards for total annual net patient service revenue received by a hospital licensed under section 51 of this chapter, the teaching hospital of the University of Massachusetts medical school, any licensed private or state-owned and state-operated general acute care hospital, or by a medium-security state correctional facility for male inmates located in Plymouth County that is operated and maintained by a private company under contract with the Department of Corrections.  For purposes of this section, such permissible use standards shall not be applied to an acute psychiatric hospital, an acute care specialty hospital, any acute care unit within a state operated healthcare facility, rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, other long-term care facilities, or any other Massachusetts correctional facilities.

(b) Such permissible use standards shall require a demonstration that a minimum spending percentage target as deemed appropriate by the secretary but no less than seventy-five percent of total annual net patient service revenue from all payers that such hospital employers receive shall be spent on eligible direct care staff expenses.  For purposes of such permissible use standards, eligible staff direct care staff expenses shall be defined by the secretary but shall include wages, benefits and related labor spending on staff working full, part-time, or under contract for entities receiving such funds and shall not include spending on managerial employees, staff providing temporary nurse services, or other temporary staff.

(c) The secretary shall require that such permissible use standards are enforced through attestations, reporting, overpayment penalties, sanctions, submission to state audits, or other processes as the secretary shall deem appropriate.

(d) Such permissible use standards shall be implemented by no later than October 1, 2023, and the standards shall apply to total annual net patient service revenue received in hospital rate year 2024 and to total net patient service revenue received in each subsequent hospital rate year.

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #801 to H4700

Permissible Use Standards for Hospitals