Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S779 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. 1995 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 779
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Paul W. Mark
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 increasing access to MassHealth dental providers.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul W. MarkBerkshire, Hampden, Franklin and
16	16	Hampshire
17	17	Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/13/2023Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/13/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/13/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/16/2023John Barrett, III1st Berkshire2/21/2023Adam GomezHampden2/22/2023Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex3/7/2023John J. CroninWorcester and Middlesex3/8/2023Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk3/10/2023 1 of 2
18	18	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1995 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
19	19	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 779
20	20	By Mr. Mark, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 779) of Paul W. Mark, Susannah M.
21	21	Whipps, Joanne M. Comerford, Vanna Howard and other members of the General Court for
22	22	legislation to increase access to MassHealth dental providers. Health Care Financing.
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act increasing access to MassHealth dental providers.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
32	32	2Section 82 the following section:-
33	33	3 SECTION 83. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, and subject
34	34	4to appropriation, the secretary of health and human services shall provide MassHealth
35	35	5supplemental payments to eligible MassHealth-participating dental providers who render
36	36	6covered dental services to an additional ten or greater MassHealth beneficiaries in a given year
37	37	7compared to the number of beneficiaries they provided services to in the prior year.
38	38	8 (b) The supplemental payment established in section (a) shall initially be set at $31 for
39	39	9the first year and shall be distributed to eligible dental providers as a rate add-on for each patient
40	40	10encounter in which a MassHealth-covered dental service are administered to an actively enrolled
41	41	11MassHealth beneficiary. The payment rate shall be subject to re-evaluation by the secretary of
42	42	12health and human services under Section 13C and 13D of this chapter. 2 of 2
43	43	13 (c) The supplemental payment established in section (a) will be available to providers
44	44	14located in twenty specific municipalities that are designated by the secretary of health and human
45	45	15services as having a high number or proportion of MassHealth enrollees and low rates of
46	46	16utilization of dental services.
47	47	17 (d) To be eligible for supplemental payments dental providers must meet each of the
48	48	18following criteria:
49	49	19 (1) Be a dentist or public health dental hygienists licensed in the state of Massachusetts.
50	50	20 (2) Be enrolled with MassHealth as an approved billing provider.
51	51	21 (3) Provide dental services to a minimum of ten additional MassHealth beneficiaries than
52	52	22the number of beneficiaries the dental provider provided services to in the previous year.
53	53	23 (4) Provide dental services at a location in eligible municipalities, as determined by the
54	54	24secretary of health and human services under section (c).
55	55	25 (e) MassHealth shall promulgate regulations to implement this section. These regulations
56	56	26shall define provider-eligible municipalities using available data on past year MassHealth
57	57	27enrollment and utilization.