Budget Amendment ID: FY2025-S4-405

EHS 405

Healthcare provider liability and patient protection

Messrs. Tarr, Fattman, Montigny, Moore, Brady, Durant and Pacheco moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, in item 0810-0000, by adding the following words at the end thereof:- "; provided further, that the attorney general shall appoint one or more persons as special counsel in the matter of Steward Health Care, the costs of which shall be borne by funds from this item and  such funds from the Healthcare Provider Liability and Patient Protection Fund established under this act as may be further appropriated, provided further, that to the maximum feasible extent consistent with sound practice and litigation strategy, said special counsel shall file reports detailing their activities, the status of all pending actions to which the commonwealth is a party, and any and all other relevant information, with the clerks of the House and Senate, the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, and the Joint Committee on Health Care

Financing not less than every 6 months commencing within 60 days following such appointment, for three years following the passage of this act, unless such obligation is otherwise extended, modified, or terminated";

By inserting after item 0810-1206 the following item:-

"XXXX-XXXX. For the healthcare provider liability and patient protection fund................ $200,000"; and

By inserting after section _ the following section:-

"SECTION_. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a fund known as the " Healthcare Provider Liability and Patient Protection Fund ", the purposes of which shall include but not be limited to:

1. Receiving  funds from fines, penalties, sanctions,  and recoveries from health care providers in the commonwealth resulting from judicial, regulatory, or administrative law proceedings to which the commonwealth or any agency thereof is a party, and which are not otherwise encumbered by statute, regulation, or policy,  appropriations, and funds provided by the federal government.

2. Providing resources to support patients and mitigate the disruption of care due to the bankruptcy, closure, or other interruption in the provision of care by a provider in the commonwealth.

3. Providing resources to the attorney general, the executive office of health and human services, the department of public health, or other state agencies for the purpose of recovering funds through prosecution, participation in civil and administrative legal actions, or other similar actions, for such costs as personnel, including but not limited to special prosecutors, masters, receivers, and experts, research and analysis, the obtaining and production of documents, or other relevant costs.

The fund shall be administered jointly by the Attorney General, the Inspector General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, whom shall promulgate regulations for the operation of the fund no later than 6 months following the passage of this act, and whom shall request as necessary from the legislature appropriations from the fund consistent with the purposes defined herein.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Attorney General and the Inspector General shall file an annual report detailing information including but not limited to the receipts, disbursements, expenditures, and items financed by the fund to the clerks of the house and senate no later than December 31."