Representative Steven S. Howitt backs bill providing $234M to fiscally strained hospitals and community health centers

Infusion of state aid will help support Massachusetts’ health care system

Boston – State Representative Steven S. Howitt (R-Seekonk) is supporting a supplemental spending bill that will steer $234 million in one-time state aid payments to dozens of acute care hospitals and community health centers across the state.

The proposal, filed as House Bill 4530, received initial approval from the House of Representatives on September 17, when it was engrossed on a vote of 148-1. The bill still requires Senate approval and Governor Maura Healey’s signature before it can become law.

Representative Howitt said the bill will provide $122 million to nearly four dozen acute care hospitals, with funding eligibility for individual hospitals determined primarily based on the facility’s public payer mix, relative price, and negative operating margins. House Bill 4530 also requires the secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to submit a report to the legislature detailing the schedule of payments and how each hospital intends to utilize the funding.

Another $77 million will be transferred into the Health Safety Net Trust Fund, which reimburses acute care hospitals and community health centers for health services provided to eligible low-income, uninsured, and underinsured residents. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Health Safety Net Trust Fund experienced a shortfall of $197 million, but a recent report issued by the Centers for Health Information and Analysis noted that the fund’s deficit was projected to reach $250 million in Fiscal Year 2025 and $290 million in the current fiscal year.

Representative Howitt said most of the remaining $35 million authorized in the bill will be allocated to community health centers that demonstrate significant financial needs, as determined by EOHHS in consultation with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (MLCHC). The MLCHC will be provided with $2.5 million of this funding, which will be used to facilitate regional savings initiatives, including shared service options.

According to Representative Howitt, the bill stipulates that these one-time payments cannot be used by hospitals or community health centers to offset Medicaid payments. In addition, it prohibits EOHHS from using this funding to calculate future payments and requires the EOHHS secretary to maximize federal financial participation in making these one-time payments.

House Bill 4530 now moves to the Senate for its consideration.