This is not the official budget document.

Budget Summary FY2010

41000060 - Division of Health Care Finance and Policy
Data Current as of:  1/26/2010





Account Description FY2009
Spending
FY2010
GAA
4100-0060 Division of Health Care Finance and Policy
For the operation of the division and the administration of the Health Safety Net Trust Fund established in section 36 of chapter 118G of the General Laws; provided, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the assessment to acute hospitals authorized pursuant to section 5 of said chapter 118G for the estimated expenses of the division shall include in fiscal year 2010 the estimated expenses, including indirect costs, of the division and shall be equal to the amount appropriated in this item less amounts projected to be collected in fiscal year 2010 from: (a) filing fees; (b) fees and charges generated by the division's publication or dissemination of reports and information; and (c) federal financial participation received as reimbursement for the division's administrative costs; provided further, that the assessed amount shall not be less than 65 per cent of the total expenses appropriated for the division and the health safety net office; provided further, that the division shall promulgate regulations requiring all hospitals receiving payments from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund to report to the division the following utilization information: the number of inpatient admissions and outpatient visits by age category, income category, diagnostic category and average charge per admission; provided further, that the division shall submit quarterly reports to the house and senate committees on ways and means compiling said data; provided further, that the division, in consultation with the executive office of health and human services, shall not promulgate any increase in Medicaid provider rates without taking all measures possible under Title XIX of the Social Security Act or any successor federal statute to ensure that rates of payment to providers do not exceed such rates as are necessary to meet only those costs incurred by efficiently and economically operated providers in order to provide services of adequate quality; provided further, that the division shall meet the reporting requirements of section 25 of chapter 203 of the acts of 1996; provided further, that funds may be expended for the purposes of a survey and study of the uninsured and underinsured in the commonwealth, including the health insurance needs of the residents of the commonwealth; provided further, that said study shall examine the overall impact of programs administered by the executive office of health and human services on the uninsured, the underinsured, and the role of employers in assisting their employees in affording health insurance pursuant to section 23 of chapter 118G of the General Laws; provided further, that the division shall publish annual reports on the financial condition of hospitals and other health care providers through the Health Benchmarks project website, in collaboration with the executive office of health and human services, the office of the attorney general, and the University of Massachusetts; provided further, that the division shall submit to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on health care financing not later than December 8, 2009 a report detailing utilization of the Health Safety Net Trust Fund; provided further, that the report shall include: (a) the number of persons in the commonwealth whose medical expenses were billed to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund in fiscal year 2009; (b) the total dollar amount billed to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund in fiscal year 2009; (c) the demographics of the population using the Health Safety Net Trust Fund; and (d) the types of services paid for out of the Health Safety Net Trust Fund in fiscal year 2009; provided further, that the division shall include in the report an analysis on hospitals' responsiveness to enrolling eligible individuals into the MassHealth program upon the date of service rather than charging those individuals to the Health Safety Net Trust Fund; provided further, that the division shall include in the report possible disincentives the state could provide to hospitals to discourage such behavior; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, the division shall not allow any exceptions to the usual and customary charge defining rule as defined in 114.3 CMR 31.02, for the purposes of drug cost reimbursement to eligible pharmacy providers for publicly-aided and industrial accident patients; provided further, that the division is hereby authorized to change the pricing standard used by said division when determining the rate of payment to pharmacy providers for prescribed drugs for publicly-aided or industrial accident patients if such a change would financially benefit the commonwealth; provided further, that within 6 months of the publication date of the federal upper limits for multiple source drugs by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the division shall submit a report to the secretary of administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the savings realized by the MassHealth Pharmacy Program for the first 3 months that the federal upper limits for multiple source drugs are in place; provided further, that using said data, the division shall estimate the program savings for the remainder of fiscal year 2010; provided further, that the division, after consultation with the secretary and the chairs of the senate and house committees on ways and means, may adjust pharmacy dispensing fees for multiple source prescription drugs to compensate for any reduction as a result of the upper limits implemented under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005; provided further, that the division shall examine the factors that contribute to the cost increases of the health care delivery system and strategies employed by the provider community to reduce cost growth; provided further, that in preparing its report, the division shall conduct a public hearing on the matter; and provided further, that the division shall submit its findings to the joint committees on health care financing and the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than February 16, 2010
16,993,167 17,449,078

Budget Reduction Explanation:   Reduces appropriation corresponding to manager furlough savings.