Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H767 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 650 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 767
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Carmine Lawrence Gentile
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 clarifying rate setting processes for home health and home care services.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/10/2025Bruce J. Ayers1st Norfolk2/12/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex2/24/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/10/2025Paul K. Frost7th Worcester1/27/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/24/2025Patricia D. JehlenSecond Middlesex2/13/2025Hannah Kane11th Worcester1/27/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester3/4/2025Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester1/28/2025Paul McMurtry11th Norfolk2/6/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk3/11/2025Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester2/6/2025Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.12th Hampden1/24/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/27/2025Adam J. Scanlon14th Bristol2/27/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex3/10/2025Thomas M. Stanley9th Middlesex2/13/2025 1 of 4
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 650 FILED ON: 1/10/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 767
18	18	By Representative Gentile of Sudbury, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 767) of
19	19	Carmine Lawrence Gentile and others clarifying rate setting processes for home health and home
20	20	care services. Elder Affairs.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act clarifying rate setting processes for home health and home care services.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1: Section 13D of Chapter 118E of the general laws is amended after the
30	30	2second paragraph by inserting the following new paragraph:
31	31	3 Such rates for home health and continuous skilled nursing agencies, as defined under
32	32	4section 51K of chapter 111, shall be established and reviewed at least biennially. In setting such
33	33	5rates, the executive office shall use as base year costs for rate determination purposes the
34	34	6reported costs of the calendar year not more than 4 years prior to the current rate year, adjusted
35	35	7for reasonableness and to incorporate any new regulatory costs imposed since said base year
36	36	8costs. In establishing rates of payment to home health agencies, the executive office shall
37	37	9consider all costs which must be incurred by efficiently and economically operated providers.
38	38	10The rates shall also include an allowance for reasonable administrative expenses and a
39	39	11reasonable profit factor, as determined by the executive office. Such cost analysis shall include,
40	40	12but not be limited to, the following: costs of similar services provided in other care settings; use 2 of 4
41	41	13of national or regional indices to measure increases or decreases in reasonable costs incurred
42	42	14since the base year costs; the revision of existing historical cost bases, where applicable, to
43	43	15reflect changing norms or models of efficient service delivery; and other means to encourage the
44	44	16cost-efficient delivery of services. The Secretary shall, concurrent with the completion of setting
45	45	17such rates, provide a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing
46	46	18how the rates issued under this paragraph were analyzed and revised; provided further, that the
47	47	19report shall compare the inflationary considerations made in the adopted rate with the most
48	48	20recent “Home Health Agency Market Basket” index posted by the United States Department of
49	49	21Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; provided further, that
50	50	22if the adopted rate does not rely on the “Home Health Agency Market Basket” index for the
51	51	23purpose of determining inflationary adjustments, then the report will simulate what the rate
52	52	24would have been if such index was a factor in rate development. In determining the methodology
53	53	25for setting rates, the Secretary shall consult with stakeholders impacted by the rates.
54	54	26
55	55	27 SECTION 2: Section 4 of Chapter 19A is hereby amended by adding after Section 4D the
56	56	28following new section:
57	57	29
58	58	30 SECTION 4E: In establishing rates of payment pursuant to the second paragraph of
59	59	31section 13C of chapter 118E of the M.G.L., the executive office shall consider changes to the
60	60	32state minimum wage or changes to employer payroll tax obligations as governmental mandates
61	61	33that affect the costs of providing homemaker and personal care homemaker services to elderly
62	62	34clients under this section. 3 of 4
63	63	35
64	64	36 The executive office shall also consider and analyze rates of payment and wages
65	65	37associated with providing similar services in both the public and private settings. In calculating
66	66	38operating costs, the executive office shall consider costs of; health insurance, employee benefits
67	67	39and training, payroll taxes, technology costs, administrative allocation and staff salaries using the
68	68	40latest available national or regional indices and benchmarked to the latest available Bureau of
69	69	41Labor Statistics median wage data. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting
70	70	42consideration of other governmental mandates or operating costs that affect the cost of providing
71	71	43services pursuant to section 4 of chapter 19A of the General Laws. In determining the
72	72	44methodology for setting rates, the Secretary shall consult with stakeholders impacted by the
73	73	45rates.
74	74	46
75	75	47 The Secretary of Elder Affairs shall, concurrent with the promulgation of the final rates
76	76	48of payment for services under section 4 of chapter 19A, issue a report to the House and Senate
77	77	49committees on ways and means detailing how the rates promulgated were analyzed and
78	78	50determined in compliance with the provisions set forth in the second paragraph of section 13C of
79	79	51chapter 118E of the General Laws. The report shall detail the department’s analysis of changes in
80	80	52the costs of providing homemaker and personal care homemaker services since the immediately
81	81	53preceding rate determination; provided further, that the report shall compare the inflationary
82	82	54considerations made in the adopted rate with the most recent “Home Health Agency Market
83	83	55Basket” index posted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers
84	84	56for Medicare and Medicaid Services; provided further, that if the adopted rate does not rely on 4 of 4
85	85	57the “Home Health Agency Market Basket” index for the purpose of determining inflationary
86	86	58adjustments, then the report will simulate what the rate would have been if such index was a
87	87	59factor in rate development.