House Unanimously Passes Health Care Cost Control Bill
Legislation encourages the use of electronic health record systems, rewards doctors who provide patient-centered care
With this bill, Massachusetts will once again be a national leader in health care reform. Our efforts to curtail costs and promote a higher standard of care will raise the quality of life in the Commonwealth and raise the bar even higher for states that seek to emulate the success Massachusetts has had with comprehensive health care reform," said Representative John P. Fresolo (D-Worcester).
The success of our landmark healthcare law presented the Commonwealth with a new challenge: to keep health care costs manageable, and also maintain our commitment to quality care with an ever-growing pool of insured residents. "Today, the House has taken a meaningful step to address those challenges by unanimously passing legislation that will help rein in costs and deliver high-quality care to the people of Massachusetts, said House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston).
Massachusetts has taken meaningful steps to achieve universal health coverage but we will not fully realize that goal until we find a way to control costs and increase access to providers," said Representative Patricia Walrath (D-Stow), Chairwoman on the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. "This bill lays the foundation for serious cost-containment and contains targeted methods of increasing the health care workforce and enhancing the overall quality of care."
To increase quality in the current health care system, the bill requires uniform coding of medical claims to simplify and make the billing process consistent and also creates a special commission on health payment reform to bring together public and private payers and providers to make recommendations to reform the way payments are made.
The bill also would require MassHealth to establish a Medical Home program that rewards primary care physicians for providing patient-centered, coordinated care with a focus on patients with chronic illnesses.
The legislation creates a streamlined structure to oversee implementation of a statewide electronic health record system by 2015 and creates a grant program to help physicians obtain and implement e-health systems. Doctors who receive grants would be required to report on quality measures they undertake in order to ensure they reduce duplication and enhance quality of care.
The bill also establishes new licensure requirements for hospitals and physicians contingent upon adoption of e-health records and computerized prescriptions order entry.
The legislation mandates that pharmaceutical companies establish and disclose a marketing code of conduct that responsibly informs the prescribing practices of physicians.
It also requires that the Department of Public Health post information on its website concerning each company's compliance with the requirement.
Under the bill, pharmaceutical companies would be banned from purchasing confidential prescription drug information for marketing purposes and also directs the Department of Public Health to implement an outreach and education program to provide objective education to physicians to encourage evidence-based and cost-effective prescribing practices.
The bill also:
- Creates a Health Care Workforce Center within the DPH to examine critical access needs to make systemic changes that will expand the health care workforce, especially in underserved areas of the Commonwealth.
- Requires the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy to hold annual public hearings concerning factors that contribute to cost growth among insurers and hospitals and the relationship between provider costs and health plan premiums.
- Creates a loan repayment program for medical school graduates who commit to practicing primary care medicine in underserved areas of the Commonwealth.
- Requires hospitals to report data on hospital-acquired infections and serious reportable events as a condition of licensure and encourages hospitals to establish patient and family advisory councils to improve communications.