1599-6903 Chapter 257 and Human Service Reserve

For the fiscal year 2022 costs of rate implementations under chapter 257 of the acts of 2008; provided, that rate implementations under said chapter 257 may include, but shall not be 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 workers from shelters and programs that serve homeless individuals and families that were previously contracted through the department of transitional assistance and the department of public health who are currently contracted with the department of housing and community development and direct care workers that serve homeless veterans through the department of veterans' services 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 the secretary of administration and finance may transfer from the sum appropriated in this item to other items of appropriation and allocations thereof for fiscal year 2022, amounts that are necessary to meet these costs where the amounts otherwise available are insufficient for the purpose of rate implementations; provided further, that the executive office for administration and finance shall report quarterly to the house and senate committees on ways and means on transfers made from this item; provided further, that the report shall identify, by item and service class, all transfers made from this item as of the date of the report and all transfers expected to be made before the end of the fiscal year; provided further, that not later than January 14, 2022, 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 gross and net costs for rates not yet promulgated as of July 2, 2021, by department, line item, service class and start date of implementation; (ii) state gross and net costs for rates promulgated not later than June 30, 2021 that have received a biennial rate review or have not received a biennial rate review, by department, line item, service class and start date of implementation; (iii) state gross and net costs for rates due to be reviewed on July 2, 2021 by department, line item, service class and start date of implementation; (iv) state gross and net costs for rates to be reviewed between July 2, 2021 and June 19, 2022, inclusive by department, line item, service class and start date of implementation; and (v) payroll spending in fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2021 aggregated by vendor and by service class; provided further, that contracts between providers and the departments within the executive office of health and human services and the executive office of elder affairs shall require providers to report on the impact of the rate implementations on employee salaries, employee-related costs and operations; provided further, that not later than September 1, 2021, departments and private providers receiving funding from this item shall report to the executive office of health and human services on implemented and proposed initiatives that increase the hourly wages and compensation of the direct care human service workforce; provided further, that this report shall include: (a) aggregated provider employee payroll data of the preceding 2 state fiscal years and the current fiscal year from the date of new rate implementations, as validated with information from the uniform financial report or a method determined by the office; (b) median salary and compensation information of the preceding 2 state fiscal years and the current fiscal year from the date of new rate implementations classified by direct care and front-line staff, medical and clinical staff and management and executive staff, as validated with information from the uniform financial report or a method determined by the office; and (c) the average employee vacancy rates of direct care and front-line staff of the preceding 2 state fiscal years and the current fiscal year from the date of new rate implementations; provided further, that not later than October 1, 2021, the executive office of health and human services shall provide to the house and senate committees on ways and means: (1) provider data on payroll, median salary and compensation and average employee vacancy rates; (2) a summary of said data and analysis of trends in median salary and compensation information in the preceding 2 state fiscal years and the current fiscal year for direct care and front-line staff, medical and clinical staff and management and executive staff; and (3) a summary of implemented and proposed initiatives among providers that increase the hourly wages and compensation of the direct care human service workforce and workforce retention; and provided further, that not later than October 1, 2021, the executive office of health and human services shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means a comparison of the median salary for each classification of staff position with the 75th 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