Bill > S570

This bill aims to ensure continuity of care for children enrolled in MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, by prioritizing their assignment to familiar primary care providers. Specifically, if a child under 18 rejoins MassHealth after a short gap in coverage (less than 18 months), the state's office of Medicaid will try to assign them to the same doctor they previously had, or one chosen by their family. This also applies when a child is in a managed care plan and there's a change in network or contract, with efforts made to keep them with their existing doctor or one from the previous plan. For newborns whose custodial parents already have MassHealth-enrolled children, the bill mandates that the newborn be assigned to the same primary care provider as their older siblings, or the next youngest sibling if the older ones have different doctors, unless the parents actively choose a different provider. Importantly, even if these assignment rules aren't perfectly followed, the bill ensures that children can still see the provider they should have been assigned to and that the provider will be reimbursed for services.