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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1578 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Liz Miranda |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act measuring the impact of Long COVID in the Commonwealth. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2322 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1578 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Ms. Miranda, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1578) of Liz Miranda for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to create an evidence-based culturally-specific patient navigation pilot program for |
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| 20 | 20 | | people living with a Long COVID diagnosis. Public Health. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act measuring the impact of Long COVID in the Commonwealth. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2022 Official |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 24O the following section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 24P. (a) The department, subject to appropriation, shall develop and implement |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4an evidence-based culturally-specific patient navigation pilot program for people living with a |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5Long COVID diagnosis, aligned with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6Medicine (NASEM) Long COVID definition. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 (b) The department shall design the pilot program to: (i) reduce barriers for Long COVID |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8patients in accessing timely and knowledgeable medical treatment, (ii) provide referrals for |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9clinical care and nonclinical support to patients with Long COVID and their families, (iii) |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10facilitate access to medical information and resources to help meet daily needs and emotional |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11support, and (iv) integrate within healthcare teams for maximum efficacy. 2 of 3 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 (c) The department shall develop guidelines to standardize Long COVID patient |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13navigator care, which could include appropriate training to ensure skills and knowledge needed |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14to deliver the proposed service. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15 (d) The pilot program shall include, but not be limited to, the following activities: |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 (i) collecting and sharing data; |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17 (ii) making initial contact with patients, conducting social and medical needs |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18assessments; |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 (iii) providing navigation on clinical needs including assistance for patients with Long |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20COVID to identify appropriate subspecialty care, making referrals and connections to clinicians, |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21facilitating communication among providers and with the patient’s health care team, scheduling |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22medical appointments, and optimizing insurance coverage and disability insurance coverage; |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23 (iv) providing navigation on social and emotional support needs including providing |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24connections for patients with Long COVID to lay support group services in order to address |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25stress for patients with long COVID and to social services in order to address issues that include |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26transportation, language barriers and interpretation, food insecurity, housing insecurity, |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27unemployment assistance, connections to community-based organizations and other services; |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28 (v) providing resources to inform shared decision-making and the availability of social |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29and community services; |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30 (vi) establishing reimbursement for patient navigator services and supervision of such |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31services 3 of 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32 (e) Not later than one year after the implementation of the pilot program said department |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33shall provide a report to the clerks of the house and the senate and to the joint committees on |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34public health and health care financing. The report shall include, but not be limited to; (i) the |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35activities of the pilot, including services provided, the geographical locations of services, (ii) the |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36number of patients who participated and the region where they live, and (iii) the advisability of |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37expanding the pilot program. |
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