Staff Report
(Boston, MA) New health care legislation has been filed today by the Baker-Polito Administration in an effort to increase access to quality health care for Massachusetts residents and small businesses. The focus of this bill is on expanding primary care and behavioral health services while controlling costs.
By expanding networks, extending hours, and telehealth services, patients may access critical health care services in a timely manner. Providers would have to meet these service growth goals, while remaining under cost benchmarks. The Primary Care and Behavioral Health Equity Trust Fund would be established through this bill to increase access to critical services and level inequities in healthcare system.
The legislation also seeks to manage increasing healthcare costs by holding drug manufacturers accountable with penalties for exorbitant price increases, creating a default payment rate for unforeseen out-of-network services, and for small business, holding small group rate review reforms.
The bill proposes several measures to improve access to high-quality care. First, by authorizing entry for Massachusetts to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact in order to remove barriers for provider licensure. Clarifying “urgent care services” in order to require clinic licensure and grant access for all MassHealth members.
Also, to conduct studies on the healthcare workforce in Massachusetts to better understand issues such as supply and demand of workers, retention and turnover rates, and demographics. Expanding telehealth services so that more residents can access them by increasing flexibility for the location or setting of the providers as long as federal and state licensing requirements are met for the patient’s physical location. And lastly, modernizing health information and data exchange so patient can more easily access and coordinate care.