Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S681 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2128 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 681
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Mark C. Montigny
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to combat COVID-19 vaccine price gouging.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Mark C. MontignySecond Bristol and Plymouth 1 of 6
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2128 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 681
18	18	By Mr. Montigny, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 681) of Mark C. Montigny for
19	19	legislation to combat COVID-19 vaccine price gouging. Financial Services.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
23	23	(2023-2024)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act to combat COVID-19 vaccine price gouging.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 6A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
29	29	2is hereby amended by inserting after section 16CC the following section:-
30	30	3 Section 16DD. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the
31	31	4secretary of the executive office of health and human services, in consultation with the secretary
32	32	5of administration and finance, shall develop a coordinated, aggregate COVID-19 vaccine
33	33	6procurement plan to manage and administer the purchase, disbursement, and reimbursement of
34	34	7COVID-19 vaccines for all health care programs administered by the commonwealth and for
35	35	8members of all health coverage plans funded or subsidized, in whole or in part, by the
36	36	9commonwealth. The aggregate procurement plan shall maximize cost savings and efficiencies,
37	37	10enhance affordable access to COVID-19 vaccination, and be designed to improve health
38	38	11outcomes while providing access to uninsured residents. 2 of 6
39	39	12 (b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, as part of the aggregate
40	40	13procurement plan, the secretary shall seek competitive bids for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines
41	41	14necessary to meet the needs of health care programs administered by the commonwealth and for
42	42	15individuals insured under health coverage plans funded or subsidized, in whole or in part, by the
43	43	16commonwealth as well as uninsured residents. The secretary may coordinate with other states
44	44	17and jurisdictions for the implementation of the aggregate procurement plan in order to maximize
45	45	18cost savings. The secretary shall establish an annual maximum purchase price for each dose of
46	46	19COVID-19 vaccine under the aggregate procurement plan, which shall not exceed the lesser of
47	47	20the following:
48	48	21 (1) cost per dose paid for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; or
49	49	22 (2) reimbursement rate paid by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
50	50	23 (c) The secretary shall implement the aggregate procurement plan not later than 180 days
51	51	24after the effective date of this act and shall submit by April 15 of each year a report detailing the
52	52	25coordinated aggregate or bulk purchasing arrangement results for the previous fiscal year to the
53	53	26clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on public health, the joint
54	54	27committee on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means.
55	55	28The report shall include, but not be limited to, a review of the aggregate procurement plan’s
56	56	29achievement relative to:
57	57	30 (1) cost savings achieved during the previous fiscal year;
58	58	31 (2) administrative costs relating to the management of the program for the previous fiscal
59	59	32year; 3 of 6
60	60	33 (3) any recommendations for enhancing cost savings, reducing inefficiencies, and
61	61	34improving access; and
62	62	35 (4) a cost-benefit analysis of the inclusion of other entities, including but not limited to
63	63	36not-for-profit healthcare providers, county, municipal, and quasi-governmental entities within the
64	64	37aggregate procurement plan.
65	65	38 SECTION 2. Chapter 32A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
66	66	39adding the following section:-
67	67	40 Section 31. The commission shall provide to any active or retired employee of the
68	68	41commonwealth who is insured under the group insurance commission coverage for annual
69	69	42vaccination against COVID-19; provided that said coverage shall not be subject to any
70	70	43deductible, co-insurance, or co-payment.
71	71	44 SECTION 3. Chapter 118E of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
72	72	45inserting after section 10N the following section:-
73	73	46 Section 10O. The division and its contracted health insurers, health plans, health
74	74	47maintenance organizations, behavioral health management firms and third-party administrators
75	75	48under contract to a Medicaid managed care organization or primary care clinician plan shall
76	76	49provide coverage for annual vaccination against COVID-19; provided, that said coverage shall
77	77	50not be subject to any cost sharing.
78	78	51 SECTION 4. Chapter 175 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
79	79	52inserting after section 47PP the following section:- 4 of 6
80	80	53 Section 47QQ. A policy, contract, agreement, plan or certificate of insurance issued,
81	81	54delivered or renewed within the commonwealth that provides medical expense coverage shall
82	82	55provide coverage for annual vaccination against COVID-19; provided, that said coverage shall
83	83	56not be subject to any deductible, co-insurance, or co-payment.
84	84	57 SECTION 5. Chapter 176A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
85	85	58inserting after section 8QQ the following section:-
86	86	59 Section 8RR. Any contract between a subscriber and a corporation under an individual
87	87	60or group hospital service plan delivered, issued or renewed within the commonwealth shall
88	88	61provide coverage for annual vaccination against COVID-19; provided that said coverage shall
89	89	62not be subject to any deductible, co-insurance, or co-payment.
90	90	63 SECTION 6. Chapter 176B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
91	91	64inserting after section 4QQ the following section:-
92	92	65 Section 4RR. Any subscription certificate under an individual or group medical service
93	93	66agreement delivered, issued or renewed within the commonwealth shall provide coverage for
94	94	67annual vaccination against COVID-19; provided, that said coverage shall not be subject to any
95	95	68deductible, co-insurance, or co-payment.
96	96	69 SECTION 7. Chapter 176G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
97	97	70inserting after section 4II the following section:-
98	98	71 Section 4JJ. Any individual or group health maintenance contract shall provide coverage
99	99	72for annual vaccination against COVID-19; provided, that said coverage shall not be subject to
100	100	73any deductible, co-insurance, or co-payment. 5 of 6
101	101	74 SECTION 8. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the health
102	102	75policy commission, in consultation with the center for health information and analysis, the
103	103	76executive office of health and human services, and the division of insurance, shall produce
104	104	77interim and final reports on the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines in the
105	105	78commonwealth and the effects of capping copayments and eliminating deductible and co-
106	106	79insurance requirements on health care access and system cost.
107	107	80 The interim and final report shall include, but not be limited to: (i) rates of COVID-19
108	108	81vaccine utilization; (ii) an analysis of the use of COVID-19 vaccination, broken down by patient
109	109	82demographics, geographic region and insurance coverage; (iii) annual plan costs and member
110	110	83premiums; (iv) the average list price of COVID-19 vaccines, broken down by manufacturer; (v)
111	111	84the average increase in annual plan costs and member premiums due to vaccine list price
112	112	85increases; (vi) the impact upon the health care cost growth benchmark; (vii) an analysis of the
113	113	86impact of eliminating co-payments, deductibles, and co-insurance requirements for COVID-19
114	114	87vaccination on patient access to and cost of care by patient demographics and geographic region;
115	115	88(viii) out-of-pocket costs incurred by uninsured individuals; (ix) additional barriers to accessing
116	116	89COVID-19 vaccination for uninsured individuals and policy recommendations for resolving such
117	117	90barriers; (x) federal and state subsidies provided to develop COVID-19 vaccines, broken down
118	118	91by manufacturer; (xi) current cost to produce each vaccine dose as of January 1, 2023; and (xii)
119	119	92total profits realized from the COVID-19 vaccine between July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2023,
120	120	93broken down by manufacturer. The interim report, including any recommendations for
121	121	94expanding access to COVID-19 vaccination for uninsured individuals, shall be filed with the
122	122	95clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on public health, the joint
123	123	96committee on health care financing, and the house and senate committees on ways and means not 6 of 6
124	124	97later than 9 months after the effective date of this act. The final report, including any
125	125	98recommendations for expanding access to COVID-19 vaccination for uninsured individuals,
126	126	99shall be filed with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on
127	127	100public health, the joint committee on health care financing, and the house and senate committees
128	128	101on ways and means not later than 18 months after the effective date of this act.