AN ACT FURTHER REGULATING HEALTH CARE ACCESS.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to implement forthwith improved access to health care, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health and convenience.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 12 of chapter 62E of the General Laws, as amended by section 14 of chapter 324 of the acts of 2006, is hereby further amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:—
Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, data gathered as part of the wage reporting system may be used for purposes of evaluating employment and earnings outcomes of programs within the Massachusetts workforce development system. The commissioner may provide access to data gathered as part of the wage reporting and financial institution match system for research and statistical purposes relating to administration of the tax laws, public assistance programs of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or their respective agencies, workers' compensation laws or the child support enforcement program of the commonwealth; but, the data shall be released without personal identifiers. The department of revenue may share wage reporting
data with the division of unemployment assistance, the division of career services and the department of education in the performance of their official duties.
SECTION 2. Chapter 118G of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out sections 6B and 6C, inserted by section 42 of chapter 58 of the acts of 2006, and inserting in place thereof the following 2 sections:—
Section 6B. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, an applicant for uncompensated care pool assistance, if eligible, shall be enrolled in MassHealth under section 9A of chapter 118E, the insurance reimbursement program under section 9C of said chapter 118E or the commonwealth care health insurance program under chapter 118H. An applicant deemed ineligible for these programs and who is unable to make all or part of the payment for health services shall provide the name and address of his employer, if any, and his name, address and date of birth. The division shall collaborate with the division of insurance and the department of revenue to implement this section and sections 6C and 18.
Section 6C. (a) The division shall prepare a form, to be called the employer health insurance responsibility disclosure, on which an employer shall report whether it is in compliance with chapter 151F and any other information required by the division relative to sections 6B and 18B. The form shall be completed, signed and returned to the division by every employer with more than 10 employees.
(b) The division shall prepare a form, to be called the employee health insurance responsibility disclosure, on which an employee of employers with more than 10 employees who declines an employer-sponsored health plan shall report whether he has an alternative source of health insurance coverage. The form shall be completed and signed by the employee and shall be retained by the employer for 3 years. The division may request a copy of the signed employee form.
(c) Information that identifies individual employees by name or health insurance status shall not be a public record, but the information may be exchanged with the department of revenue and the health care access bureau in the division of insurance under an interagency service agreement for the purposes of enforcing this section and sections 6B and 18B. Nothing in this section shall prevent the implementation of section 304 of chapter 149 of the acts of 2004. An employer who knowingly falsifies or fails to file with the division any information required by this section or by any regulation promulgated by the division shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.
SECTION 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision (2) of section 108 of chapter 175 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out clause (3), as most recently amended by section 33 of chapter 324 of the acts of 2006, and inserting in place thereof the following clause:–
(3) It purports to insure only 1 person, except that a policy, excluding contracts which provide stand-alone dental services, shall insure, originally or by subsequent amendment, upon the application of an adult member of a family who shall be considered the policyholder, 2 or more eligible members of that family, including the policyholder, spouse, dependent children and other dependent persons, children during pendency of adoption procedures under chapter 210, children under 26 years of age or for 2 years following loss of dependent status under the Internal Revenue Code, whichever occurs first, and children who are mentally or physically incapable of earning their own living, if due proof of the incapacity is received by the insurer within 31 days of the date upon which the coverage would otherwise be terminated; and.
SECTION 4. Subdivision (O) of section 110 of said chapter 175, inserted by section 50 of chapter 58 of the acts of 2006, is hereby further amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:– An insurer authorized to issue or deliver within the commonwealth any general or blanket policy of insurance under this section may only contract to sell any general or blanket policy of insurance, except policies or certificates which provide stand-alone dental services, with an employer if the insurance is offered by that employer to all full-time employees who live in the commonwealth; provided, however, the employer shall not make a smaller health insurance premium contribution percentage amount to an employee than the employer makes to any other employee who receives an equal or greater total hourly or annual salary for each specific or general blanket policy of insurance for all employees.
SECTION 5. Said section 110 of said chapter 175 is hereby further amended by striking out subdivision (P), inserted by section 34 of chapter 324 of the acts of 2006, and inserting in place thereof the following subdivision:-
(P) A blanket or general policy of insurance described in subdivision (A), (C) or (D), except policies or certificates which provide stand-alone dental services or coverage to Medicare or other governmental programs which shall be delivered, issued or renewed in the commonwealth, shall provide, as benefits to all group members having a place of employment in the commonwealth, coverage to persons under 26 years of age or for 2 years after the loss of dependent status under the Internal Revenue Code, whichever occurs first.
SECTION 6. Chapter 58 of the acts of 2006 is hereby amended by striking out section 142, as appearing in section 66 of chapter 324 of the acts of 2006, and inserting in place thereof the following section:—
Section 142. Sections 46, 49, 53, 56, 58, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84 and 87 shall take effect as of January 1, 2007.
SECTION 7. Said chapter 58 is hereby further amended by striking out section 145, as appearing in section 68 of said chapter 324, and inserting in place thereof the following section:—
Section 145. Sections 12, 22, 23, 32, 33, 35, 41, 42, 44, 48, 50, 52, 55, 59, 60A, 68, 72, 74, 82, 85, 86, 89 and 90 shall take effect on July 1, 2007.
SECTION 8. Section 25 of said chapter 324 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 9. Said chapter 324 is hereby further amended by striking out sections 77 to 79, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following 3 sections:—
Section 77. Sections 65 to 69, inclusive, shall take effect as of April 12, 2006.
Section 78. Sections 10, 33, 34, 36, 38, 40, 43, 45, 48 and 49 shall take effect on January 1, 2007.
Section 79. Sections 16, 22, 23, 24, 26, 44, 46, 47 and 50 shall take effect on July 1, 2007.
SECTION 10. Sections 6 and 7 shall take effect as of April 12, 2006.
SECTION 11. Sections 1, 8 and 9 shall take effect as of October 26, 2006.
SECTION 12. Section 3 and section 5 shall take effect as of January 1, 2007.
SECTION 13. Section 2 and section 4 shall take effect on July 1, 2007.
Approved January 3, 2007.