Page 6 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2025 MASS HOUSE | FROM Page 3 The Massachusetts House and Senate had passed their own versions of the legislation previously and reconciled them, and after the bill’s enactment, it was given to the governor, who signed it on January 8, 2025, as Chapter 343 of the Acts of 2024. “This bill is a continuation of the Commonwealth’s longstanding eff ort to ensure that everyone in Massachusetts has access to quality, affordable health care,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “I want to thank Chairman Lawn for working diligently to get this legislation over the fi nish line, a process that included the incorporation of input from dozens of stakeholders and outside experts, and I want to thank all my colleagues in the House and our Donate Your Vehicle Call (866) 618-0011 to donate your car, truck, boat, RV, and more today! Support Veteran Nonprofi ts. Free Pickup & Towing. Top Tax Deduction. 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When you donate your car, you’ll receive: a 2-night, 3-day hotel stay at one of 50 locations a $200 restaurant voucher & Call 1-888-730-0880 Help Prevent Blindness Get A Vision Screening Annually partners in the Senate for recognizing the need for this legislation amid a number of daunting challenges facing the Commonwealth’s health care system.” “This critical legislation takes steps to ensure that we never face a repeat of the collapse of the Steward Healthcare system again. I am thankful for the leadership of Speaker Mariano on this important issue which allows the state to focus on addressing the damage to our health care infrastructure caused by the closure of essential hospitals,” said State Representative Jessica Giannino (DRevere). “The Commonwealth was caught fl at-footed by the fi nancial implosion of the Steward Healthcare system. This important law takes important steps to make sure we never again see a repeat of this systemic failure. And now the Commonwealth can continue to focus on addressing the damage to our health care delivery system resulting from shuttered hospitals,” said State Representative Jeff rey Rosario Turco (DWinthrop). Strengthening oversight Chapter 343 makes important updates to the Commonwealth’s laws governing the oversight of hospital systems and provider organizations so the gaps exploited by Steward Health Care cannot be exploited again. Oversight measures include: • Bolstering the reporting authority of the Center for Health Analysis and Information (CHIA) and scope of the oversight of the Health Policy Commission (HPC) by adding reporting requirements for hospitals and registered provider organizations (RPOs), including significant equity investors; audited financial statement reporting is mandated for out-of-state operators of a hospital or RPO parent company, private equity investors, and management services organizations (MSOs). • Enhancing penalties for not complying with CHIA data reporting requirements, including increasing and removing the cap on fi nancial penalties • Requiring CHIA to notify HPC and the Department of Public Health (DPH) of failure to report, which will be considered during a review by the HPC in the Cost and Market Impact Review (CMIR) process and by DPH when considering a Determination of Need (DON) application or when reviewing licensure and suitability • Expanding DPH authority over the Board of Registration in Medicine to improve oversight and align Board activities with broader state market oversight goals • Requiring DPH to hold a public hearing prior to hospital and essential service closures, and authorizing DPH to seek an impact analysis of a hospital closure of any essential health service from HPC Chapter 343 expands the Attorney General’s authority to monitor health care trends and enforce the False Claims Act by allowing the offi ce to seek information from signifi cant equity investors, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and MSOs, and to hold entities with an ownership or controlling interest in a provider organization liable if they are aware of false claims submitted to the government. Chapter 343 makes significant reforms to prevent acute care hospitals from selling land to REITs. When Steward Health Care sold hospital properties to Medical Properties Trust (MPT) in 2016 for $1.25 billion, the hospital network agreed to lease back their former properties from MPT for exorbitant rents, siphoning away necessary resources and depriving the hospital operations and patients of needed investments. The legislation prohibits the future leasing of an acute hospital’s main campus from REITs. It requires increased disclosure of other lease arrangements as part of the licensure process with DPH. In October 2023, a new mother tragically died at a Steward hospital after medical equipment that could have saved her life was repossessed because Steward couldn’t pay its bills. To prevent a similar tragedy, the legislation requires creditors, vendors and hospitals to notify the state 60 days before any possible repossession of medical or surgical equipment, and makes any incident like this a reportable event to the Commonwealth — similar to reporting of medical and drug errors. To improve patient safety, Chapter 343 also expands the Betsy Lehman Center’s medical error and patient safety data collection and reporting authority
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