1599-6903 Chapter 257 and Human Service Reserve

For the fiscal year 2026 costs of chapter 257 of the acts of 2008 rate implementations; provided, that chapter 257 of the acts of 2008 rate implementations may include but are not limited to, costs associated with any court order or settlement between providers of services and the commonwealth related to the rate implementation process; provided further, that home care workers shall be eligible for funding from this item; provided further, that no funds from this item shall be allocated to special education programs under chapter 71B of the General Laws, contracts for early education and care services or programs for which payment rates are negotiated and paid as class rates as established by the executive office of health and human services; provided further, that no funds shall be allocated from this item to contracts funded exclusively by federal grants as delineated in section 2D; provided further, that not later than January 30, 2026, the executive office of health and human services shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the executive office for administration and finance on the implementation of rates under said chapter 257 of the acts of 2008, including: (i) state costs for rates promulgated as of July 1, 2025, by regulation, department, and program, (ii) state costs for rates promulgated as of January 1, 2026, by regulation, department, and program, (iii) percent of increase in state funding for rates to be reviewed between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, by regulation, department, and program, (iv) the annualized fiscal impact to program costs compared to prior fiscal year actual costs for rates to be reviewed between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, by regulation, department and program; provided further, that not later than March 31, 2026, the executive office of health and human services shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the executive office for administration and finance on the implementation of proposed initiatives that increase the hourly wages and compensation of the direct care human service workforce; provided further, that this report shall include, by contracted provider, the average uniform financial report provider data on employee tax and fringe benefit information of the preceding two state fiscal years, as validated with information from the uniform financial report or a method determined by the office, and the median salary and compensation information of the preceding two state fiscal years classified by direct care and front-line staff, medical and clinical staff and management staff, as validated with information from the uniform financial report or a method determined by the office; and provided further, that the executive office of health and human services shall include in this report a comparison of the median salary for each classification of staff position with the 53rd percentile wage estimate for that position as determined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for the commonwealth using the available data for that rate review and a comparison of the median salary for each classification of staff position with the 53rd percentile wage estimate for that position as determined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for the commonwealth in the most recent available data