Section 11N: Monitoring health care market trends; investigation of unfair methods of competition or anti-competitive behavior; exemption or waiver from federal law
Section 11N. (a) The attorney general shall monitor trends in the health care market including, but not limited to, trends in provider organization size and composition, consolidation in the provider market, payer contracting trends and patient access and quality issues in the health care market. The attorney general may obtain the following information from a private health care payer, public health care payer, provider or provider organization, as those terms are defined in section 1 of chapter 6D: (i) any information that is required to be submitted under sections 8, 9 and 10 of chapter 12C, (ii) filings, applications and supporting documentation related to any cost and market impact review under section 13 of chapter 6D (iii) filings, applications and supporting documentation related to a determination of need application filed under section 25C of chapter 111; and (iv) filings, applications and supporting documentation submitted to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Office of the Inspector General for any demonstration project. Under section 17 of chapter 12C and section 8 of chapter 6D and subject to the limitations stated in those sections, the attorney general may require that any provider, provider organization, private health care payer or public health care payer produce documents, answer interrogatories and provide testimony under oath related to health care costs and cost trends, the factors that contribute to cost growth within the commonwealth's health care system and the relationship between provider costs and payer premium rates.
(b) The attorney general may investigate any provider organization referred to the attorney general by the health policy commission under section 13 of chapter 6D to determine whether the provider organization engaged in unfair methods of competition or anti-competitive behavior in violation of chapter 93A or any other law, and, if appropriate, take action under chapter 93A or any other law to protect consumers in the health care market.
(c) The attorney general may intervene or otherwise participate in efforts by the commonwealth to obtain exemptions or waivers from certain federal laws regarding provider market conduct, including, from the federal Office of the Inspector General, a waiver of, or expansion of, the ''safe harbors'' provided for under 42 U.S.C. section 1320a–7b and obtaining from the federal Office of the Inspector General a waiver of, or exemption from, 42 U.S.C. section 1395nn subsections (a) to (e).
(d) Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the attorney general to protect consumers in the health care market under any other law.