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MA H1350

Bill

Status

Introduced

2/27/2025

Primary Sponsor

Christine Barber

Click for details

Origin

House of Representatives

194th General Court

AI Summary

  • Requires hospitals to provide free care to patients with household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or those experiencing medical hardship (out-of-pocket costs exceeding 10% of income for those up to 600% FPL)

  • Establishes sliding scale discounts: 75% discount for income 201-300% FPL, 50% discount for 301-350% FPL, and 25% discount for 351-400% FPL

  • Prohibits hospitals from considering immigration status, total cost of services, or restrictive contract language when determining financial assistance eligibility

  • Mandates hospitals post financial assistance notices in multiple languages, notify patients during intake and discharge, and include prominent statements on billing communications

  • Requires annual hospital reporting to the Center for Health Information and Analysis on financial assistance applications, approvals, denials, charity care, bad debt, and debt sold to collectors, with the Health Policy Commission publishing annual public reports

Legislative Description

To address medical debt through hospital financial assistance reform

Last Action

Hearing scheduled for 05/12/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in Gardner Auditorium

5/2/2025

Committee Referrals

Health Care Financing2/27/2025

Full Bill Text

No bill text available