Healey signs healthcare oversight bill in wake of Nashoba Valley closure
Photo I Courtesy of State House News Source
Nashoba Valley Medical Center is one of two Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts that has been closed.
State health regulators are about to gain expanded oversight of private equity transactions under a bill Gov. Maura Healey will sign Wednesday that's intended to protect Massachusetts from another crisis like the Steward Health Care bankruptcy saga, which led to the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer.
Healey's office on Tuesday announced her plans to sign a pair of major health care reform bills, including a package (H 5159) designed to boost hospital oversight.
The imminent law will significantly increase financial penalties that hospitals, providers, pharmacy benefit managers and other entities could face for failing to submit required data to the state on time. Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office will gain more investigative authority over private equity deals, and the bill also expands the false claims statute to hold private equity accountable.
Lawmakers sent the legislation to Healey on Dec. 30, the penultimate day of the 2023-2024 session.
The scope of the Health Policy Commission's annual cost trends hearing will now include pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, pharmacy benefit managers, private equity investors, health care real estate investment trusts and management services organizations. Private equity deals, including real estate sale-leaseback agreements, will also become subject to the HPC's material change notice process.
The HPC board will be restructured this summer, with Auditor Diana DiZoglio losing her authority to appoint three members. Healey will absorb those seats and can name six members, including two nominated by House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka.
The law will strengthen data reporting requirements to the Center for Health Information and Analysis, including by requiring private equity investors, health care real estate investment trusts and management services organizations to submit audited financial information. Fines for not submitting information on time will soar from $1,000 to $25,000 per week, and the law also eliminates the annual cap of $50,000.
Looking to crack down on a practice that helped plunge Steward into bankruptcy, the bill bars the Department of Public Health from issuing a license to establish or maintain an acute care hospital that has leased its main campus from a real estate investment trust. The provision exempts hospitals that had that lease agreement in place as of April 1, 2024.
The new law will create a primary care task force to develop recommendations to improve access to care, delivery and financial stability. Spilka has identified primary health care delivery reform as a priority for the new legislative session.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments