SECTION 66. Health Safety Net Trust Fund

(a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a fund to be known as the Health Safety Net Trust Fund, in this section and in sections 67 to 69, inclusive, called the fund, which shall be administered by the health safety net office, hereinafter the office. Expenditures from the fund shall not be subject to appropriation unless otherwise required by law. The purposes of the fund shall be to: (i) maintain a health care safety net by reimbursing hospitals and community health centers for a portion of the cost of reimbursable health services provided to low-income, uninsured or underinsured residents; (ii) support the estimated expenses of the executive office in administering the health safety net and related assessments under sections 65 to 69, inclusive; and (iii) support a portion of the costs of the Medicaid program under this chapter and the commonwealth care health insurance program under chapter 118H. The office shall administer the fund using methods, policies, procedures, standards and criteria for the proper and efficient operation of the fund and programs supported by it in a manner designed to distribute the fund resources as equitably as possible. The secretary of administration and finance, in consultation with the secretary of health and human services, shall determine annually the estimated expenses to administer the fund.

[Subsection (b) effective until September 30, 2022. For text effective September 30, 2022, see below.]

(b) The fund shall consist of: (i) all amounts paid by acute hospitals and surcharge payors under sections 67 and 68; (ii) all appropriations for the purpose of payments to acute hospitals or community health centers for health services provided to uninsured and underinsured residents; (iii) any transfers from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund established in section 2OOO of chapter 29; (iv) all amounts paid by privately-owned, nonfederal hospitals under subsection (b) of section 67; and (v) all property and securities acquired by and through the use of money belonging to the fund and all interest thereon. The office shall transfer $257,500,000 to the MassHealth Delivery System Reform Trust Fund established in section 2SSSS of said chapter 29 and shall transfer an amount equal to all amounts paid by privately-owned, nonfederal hospitals under said subsection (b) of said section 67 to the Non–Acute Care Hospital Reimbursement Trust Fund established in section 2WWWW of said chapter 29. The office shall expend amounts in the fund, except for amounts transferred to the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund, the MassHealth Delivery System Reform Trust Fund and the Non–Acute Care Hospital Reimbursement Trust Fund, for payments to hospitals and community health centers for reimbursable health services provided to uninsured and underinsured residents, consistent with the requirements of this section, section 69 and the regulations adopted by the office. The office shall also annually expend monies from the fund for the expenses of the executive office, including the health safety net office under subsection (a), for the administration of the health safety net and related assessments. The office shall also expend not more than $6,000,000 annually from the fund for demonstration projects that use case management and other methods to reduce the liability of the fund to acute hospitals. Any amounts collected from surcharge payors in any year in excess of the total surcharge amount, adjusted to reflect applicable surcharge credits, shall be transferred to the General Fund to support a portion of the costs of the Medicaid program and commonwealth care health insurance program. Any annual balance remaining in the fund after these payments have been made shall be transferred to the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund. All interest earned on the amounts in the fund shall be deposited or retained in the fund. The director shall from time to time requisition from the fund amounts that the director considers necessary to meet the current obligations of the office for the purposes of the fund and estimated obligations for a reasonable future period.

[Subsection (b) as amended by 2017, 47, Sec. 54 effective September 30, 2022. See 2017, 47, Sec. 149A as added by 2017, 63, Sec. 10A. See, also, 2017, 63, Sec. 18. For text effective until September 30, 2022, see above.]

(b) The fund shall consist of: (i) all amounts paid by acute hospitals and surcharge payors under sections 67 and 68; (ii) all appropriations for the purpose of payments to acute hospitals or community health centers for health services provided to uninsured and underinsured residents; (iii) any transfers from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund established in section 2OOO of chapter 29; (iv) all amounts paid by privately-owned, nonfederal hospitals under subsection (b) of section 67; and (v) all property and securities acquired by and through the use of money belonging to the fund and all interest thereon. The office shall transfer an amount equal to all amounts paid by privately-owned, nonfederal hospitals under subsection (b) of section 67 to the Non–Acute Care Hospital Reimbursement Trust Fund established in section 2WWWW of said chapter 29. The office shall expend amounts in the fund, except for amounts transferred to the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund, the MassHealth Delivery System Reform Trust Fund and the Non–Acute Care Hospital Reimbursement Trust Fund, for payments to hospitals and community health centers for reimbursable health services provided to uninsured and underinsured residents, consistent with the requirements of this section, section 69 and the regulations adopted by the office. The office shall also annually expend monies from the fund for the expenses of the executive office, including the health safety net office under subsection (a), for the administration of the health safety net and related assessments. The office shall also expend not more than $6,000,000 annually from the fund for demonstration projects that use case management and other methods to reduce the liability of the fund to acute hospitals. Any amounts collected from surcharge payors in any year in excess of the total surcharge amount, adjusted to reflect applicable surcharge credits, shall be transferred to the General Fund to support a portion of the costs of the Medicaid program and commonwealth care health insurance program. Any annual balance remaining in the fund after these payments have been made shall be transferred to the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund. All interest earned on the amounts in the fund shall be deposited or retained in the fund. The director shall from time to time requisition from the fund amounts that the director considers necessary to meet the current obligations of the office for the purposes of the fund and estimated obligations for a reasonable future period.