Outside Section 7

Health and Prevention Fund; Health Insurance Expansion Fund

SECTION 7.   Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2KKKK the following 2 sections: --
Section 2LLLL. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Commonwealth Health and Prevention Fund. The fund shall be credited with revenues from sales tax revenues collected from the sale of candy and soft drinks under chapter 64H. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended, subject to appropriation, to support alcohol and tobacco addiction services, health promotion, school-based health programs, teenage pregnancy prevention, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, work force expansion services and other critical programs that support the wellness of residents of the commonwealth.
Section 2MMMM. There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Health Insurance Expansion Fund. The fund shall be credited with an amount equal to the Medicaid funding provided by the federal government pursuant to the increased federal Medicaid assistance percentage under Section 2001 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and Section 1201 of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the amount of which the secretary of administration and finance shall determine at the start of each fiscal year. Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended, subject to appropriation, to support the financing of health insurance coverage for low-income residents of the commonwealth.
 
 

Summary:
This section establishes a new Commonwealth Health and Prevention Fund. Revenues from repealing the sales tax exemptions for candy and soda will go into this fund, to be expended, subject to appropriation, to support alcohol and tobacco addiction services, health promotion, school-based health programs, teenage pregnancy prevention, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, work force expansion services and other critical programs that support the wellness of residents of the commonwealth. This section also establishes a Health Insurance Expansion Fund. The fund will receive additional Medicaid funding from federal health care reform, to be expended, subject to appropriation, to support the financing of health insurance coverage for low-income residents of the Commonwealth.