Bill > H1001

This bill requires MassHealth, which is the state's Medicaid program, and its contracted managed care organizations (organizations that manage healthcare services for Medicaid beneficiaries) to pay hospitals for services provided to "boarder patients" who are waiting in emergency rooms for behavioral health bed placement. Specifically, hospitals will be reimbursed at a rate of at least 95% of what Medicare would pay for an inpatient stay. A "boarder patient" is defined as someone who has been in the hospital emergency department for at least two hours after a doctor has decided they need to be admitted or transferred. MassHealth will also report on these payments and make recommendations for better coordinated care and patient placement.