Section 14 Community Hospital and Health Center Investment Trust Fund 1

Chapter 29 of the General Laws is hereby amending by striking out section 2TTTT and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 2TTTT. (a) There shall be a Community Hospital and Health Center Investment Trust Fund to be expended, without further appropriation, by the secretary of health and human services. The fund shall consist of money from public and private sources, including gifts, grants and donations, interest earned on such money, any other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund and any funds provided from other sources. Money in the fund shall be used to provide annual financial support in an amount not to exceed $47,500,000 per fiscal year, consistent with the terms of this section, to eligible acute care hospitals and community health centers, provided that such financial support to eligible acute care hospitals shall include all payments pursuant to section 63 of chapter 260 of the acts of 2020. The secretary, as trustee, shall administer the fund and shall make expenditures from the fund consistent with this section.

(b) The secretary may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify amounts for payment in sufficient amount to satisfy all obligations under section 63 of chapter 260 of the acts of 2020 and otherwise in anticipation of expected receipts; provided, however, that, subject to subsection (e), no expenditure shall be made from the fund which shall cause the fund to be deficient at the close of a fiscal year. Subject to subsection (i), revenues deposited in the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year.

(c) The secretary shall periodically direct payments from the fund to eligible acute care hospitals and community health centers. To be eligible to receive payment from the fund, an acute care hospital shall be an "eligible hospital" for purposes of subsection (d) of section 63 of chapter 260 of the acts of 2020. To be eligible to receive payment from the fund, a community health center must be certified as a community health center by the MassHealth program under 130 CMR 405.000 or any successor regulation.

(d) In directing payments in a given fiscal year, the secretary shall allocate payments to eligible acute care hospitals and community health centers in the following order and manner. First, the secretary shall direct payments from the fund to eligible acute care hospitals, in the form of enhanced Medicaid payments, supplemental payments, or by other appropriate mechanism, to satisfy all obligations under section 63 of chapter 260 of the acts of 2020. Second, the secretary shall direct the balance of the fund for payments to community health centers in the following manner and allocation: 25 per cent of the total community health center allocation shall be directed to community health centers in the form of grants, and 75 per cent of the total community health center allocation shall be directed to community health centers in the form of enhanced Medicaid payments. The secretary shall establish by regulation or other appropriate written issuance any further eligibility criteria for allocation of payments pursuant to this subsection.

(e) The secretary may require as a condition of receiving payment from the fund any such reasonable condition of payment that the secretary determines necessary to ensure the availability, to the extent possible, of federal financial participation for the payments, and the secretary may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify amounts for payment in anticipation of expected receipt of federal financial participation for the payments. Subject to appropriation, an amount equal to the total annual anticipated federal financial participation generated by the payments shall be transferred to the Community Hospital and Health Center Investment Trust Fund not later than June 30.

(f) The secretary may promulgate regulations as necessary to carry out this section.

(g) Not later than October 15 of each fiscal year, the secretary shall file a report with the joint committee on health care finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing the allocation and recipient of each payment during the prior fiscal year, including any payments made under subsection (i).

(h) An amount equal to the total receipts from the penalty established under chapter 63E shall be transferred from the General Fund to the Community Hospital and Health Center Investment Trust Fund before the end of each fiscal year.

(i) In the event that the total amount in the fund in a given fiscal year is sufficient to provide the maximum amount of annual financial support specified in subsection (a) to eligible acute care hospitals and community health centers, any remaining revenues deposited in the fund under subsection (h) shall revert to the General Fund to support increased investments in primary care and behavioral health in a manner that maximizes federal financial participation.

This section, along with three others, restructures and recapitalizes the existing Community Hospital Reinvestment Trust Fund to target independent community hospitals and community health centers and maximizes federal financial participation on payments from the fund.