The state House has been working on a proposal to help offset the expense of serving low-income, underinsured individuals at smaller facilities, while the state Senate has been working on a proposal to contain healthcare costs.
The state House on June 19 approved a bill that raised funds for community hospitals by imposing $247.5 million in assessments on insurers and $90 million on large hospitals. The bill also included new assessments on urgent care centers, retail clinics and surgery centers.
In the state Senate, lawmakers passed a bill in November that called for a “rate floor” for insurer payments to hospitals at a minimum of 90 percent of the average service price, according to the report. It included fines to large facilities, owned by Boston-based Partners HealthCare or other organizations, depending on the rate of spending growth.
Lawmakers had the option of agreeing on and passing a consensus bill before the legislative session ended July 31. However, a final agreement was not reached, with lawmakers indicating they couldn’t reconcile their different “philosophies.”
Read more about the issue, including reaction from healthcare groups and Massachusetts businesses, here.
Morgan Haefner contributed to this report.
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