Substitute Bill No. 238 Summary

• Expands annual reporting requirements for group practices to include all practices with two or more physicians (reduced from thirty or more) beginning January 15, 2022, requiring disclosure of physician names, specialties, business entities, service locations, and primary service areas to the Attorney General and Office of Health Strategy.

• Eliminates presumption favoring approval of group practice ownership transfers and removes the presumption for transfers made in response to requests for proposals or voluntary offers for sale.

• Reduces threshold for "group practice" definition from eight to two or more full-time equivalent physicians to expand oversight of medical practice consolidations.

• Modifies certificate of need review timelines for group practice transfers: 60-day review period (instead of 90 days) for responses to requests for proposals, but requires 25 or more individuals (instead of 3) to request a public hearing for such transactions.

• Requires independent consultant oversight for three years post-transfer when purchaser is a large hospital system or for-profit entity, with quarterly reporting on compliance with conditions and community benefits, funded by purchaser up to $200,000 annually.