Transcript Highlights:

• and other institutional services. behavioral health services, so screening and treatment for mental
• Services.
• We provide prevention and behavioral promotion services, intervention services, treatment services, recovery
• Yeah, attendant care, personal assistance services. services, personal care services, those are kind
• General services. Yeah. General services.

Committee: House Public Health

Transcript Highlights:

• The treatment of chronic diseases of aging will take on growing importance.
• They also offer services for veterans.
• . ...diagnosis and intervention to effective treatments.
• That emerging treatments provide.
• The treatments in children, some of the treatments...

Bills: SB5 , SJR3 , SB 5 , SJR 3

Committee: Senate Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• Literally, we give rides to the treatment center, so I don't think that we duplicate those services;
• . services to contractual services for shortfalls in the medical services contract for the inmates' medical
• services.
• treatment.
• So during FY23, four pregnant females received medication-assisted treatment services while incarcerated

Committee: House House Appropriations & Finance

Transcript Highlights:

• It would cover services such as interpreter services, community health workers, and patient navigation
• And this helps to make better decisions for treatments.
• service, We all know access to addiction treatment and other forms of mental and behavioral health clinical
• MassHealth Limited only covers emergency services.
• , social services, and much more.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Summary: The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing held a public hearing on a large docket of bills focused on MassHealth benefits and reimbursement, health equity, behavioral health, public health, dental access, 340B drug pricing, tobacco cessation, and coverage for children. The chairs emphasized rising health care costs, provider shortages, administrative burdens, and persistent inequities by income, race, geography, and immigration status. Much of the testimony centered on H.1416/S.901, an act to advance health equity, with legislators and members of the Health Equity Compact arguing for statewide benchmarks, stronger health equity leadership, reimbursement for interpreter services, community health workers and patient navigation, Medicaid graduate medical education support, and a health equity zone trust fund. Witnesses described disparities in life expectancy, maternal mortality, access to primary care, and the impact of federal Medicaid and social service cuts, and urged the committee to report the bill favorably. The committee also heard strong support for H.1368/S.847 on rapid whole genome sequencing for critically ill MassHealth children. Testifiers from industry, academia, hospitals, and families said early sequencing can end long diagnostic odysseys, improve treatment decisions, shorten hospital stays, and save money, while also providing emotional relief and information for families. The hearing then moved to H.1407 on MassHealth rate parity for inpatient behavioral health providers, where Rep. Scanlan and the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems said the bill would codify existing administrative parity so managed care plans cannot pay less than the MassHealth fee-for-service rate. On H.1392/S.853 to preserve and protect public health, witnesses supported higher vaccine administration fees to improve provider participation and immunization rates. The committee also heard testimony on H.770/845 to protect 340B providers in MassHealth, and on S.848 to require reporting and transparency around 340B revenues and outside administrative costs. Additional bills drew testimony on tobacco cessation coverage for MassHealth members, with advocates supporting broader access to counseling and medications through medical, behavioral health, and dental providers. On H.1409, a nursing home operator asked for more flexibility in a MassHealth staffing-related penalty tied to patient days per resident. On H.1401/S.888, supporters of the “Take 10” dental access proposal said adult MassHealth dental coverage is underused because too few dentists accept MassHealth, leading to long travel times and avoidable emergency room visits; they urged incentive payments for dentists serving new adult MassHealth patients. Finally, on H.1403/S.855, “Cover All Kids,” advocates and immigrant community members urged removal of immigration status as a barrier to full MassHealth coverage for children, while also backing a related bill to ensure 12 months of continuous coverage for children. No votes were taken during the hearing; the committee primarily received testimony and asked questions on costs, reimbursement levels, and implementation details.

Transcript Highlights:

• And with two treatments—and you usually don't go beyond two treatments—it's over 90%.
• There's very few treatment options available, and those treatments oftentimes just manage the symptoms
• There's very few treatment options available, and those treatments oftentimes just manage the symptoms
• There's very few treatment options available, and those treatments I'm to treat these disorders.
• It's a treatment.

Committee: House Health and Welfare

Summary: The House Committee on Health and Welfare met on April 28 with a quorum and took up several Senate bills, beginning with SB 113 on the local health care provider participation program in Calcasieu Parish. The committee adopted a technical amendment and heard that the bill would shift the local sponsor from the parish to the city if needed by a June 1 deadline. After brief discussion and no opposition, SB 113 was reported favorably with amendments. The committee then approved SB 23, which exempts certain assisted living facilities licensed by LDH from the definition of food service establishment, and SB 150, which would allow LDH to scan and electronically store vital records supporting documents and return originals to citizens. SB 221 also advanced after testimony that it would allow EMS providers to be reimbursed by Medicaid for emergency responses where treatment is provided on scene but the patient is not transported. Members discussed that the bill could reduce unnecessary ER use and likely would require some rulemaking, but it was reported favorably. A major portion of the meeting focused on SB 404, a broad vision benefit plan reform bill. Supporters, including optometrists, said the measure would improve transparency, patient choice, and access to eye care by limiting restrictive plan practices; opponents from the vision care plan industry argued it was an unprecedented, provider-driven overhaul that could raise costs and reduce flexibility. After extensive testimony and an agreed amendment clarifying network participation, the committee reported SB 404 favorably with amendments. The committee also reported SB 32 favorably with amendments after emotional testimony from parents and advocates about perinatal bereavement care, cooling devices, and training for hospitals to give grieving families more time and dignity after infant loss. Finally, the committee heard SB 43, which would create a psychedelic-assisted therapy initiative within LDH for clinical research and treatment involving ibogaine and psilocybin, with testimony from veterans, researchers, and advocates describing potential benefits for PTSD, substance use, and traumatic brain injury. The bill was reported favorably with amendments and set to pass a courtesy sheet. The committee then began SB 253, a bill regulating peptides and compounding pharmacies, adopted technical amendments clarifying provider liability, and continued discussion as the transcript ended.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:11:53.760><c> for</c> medication assisted treatment for medication assisted treatment for treatment
• Expanding telemedicine services specifically for medication-assisted treatment and other essential health
• The expansion of telemedicine for medication-assisted treatment and other essential health care services
• The expansion of telemedicine for medication-assisted treatment and other essential health care services
• , there are transportation services that have to, in some cases, daily drive patients to treatment facilities

Committee: Senate Health and Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• , again give verbal and written consent to the treatment that they understand.
• Also, the current federal Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Robert F.
• We cannot wait for an FDA-approved pharmaceutical version of a treatment that readily exists in nature
• , our opioid treatment program, as well as our homeless clinic.
• My chief expertise is in the treatment of PTSD and trauma-related disorders.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> administrative infrastructure services administrative infrastructure services to<00:04:14.079><c
• </c> many different types of services many different types of services pursuant<00:05:19.440><c> to</
• courts um as you're aware treatment courts um as you're aware treatment<00:28:06.919><c> courts</c><
• treatment treatment court<00:28:55.320><c> so</c><00:28:55.559><c> and</c><00:28:55.720><c> that's</
• </c> because there are very few treatment because there are very few treatment beds<00:32:26.399><c>

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:31:40.559><c> Program</c> communication access Services Program communication access Services
• with them to deliver the services with them to deliver the services required<00:37:53.440><c> by</c><
• </c> Department of Health and Human Services Department of Health and Human Services and<00:44:55.800
• It's a crucial step toward ensuring the safety and effectiveness of our treatment services here in New
• He said the legislation is a crucial step toward ensuring the safety and effectiveness of treatment services

Committee: House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• That's who I usually get my services from.
• That's who I usually get my services from.
• So if they need OT, PT, speech, case management, service coordination, and each of those services would
• necessary to undergo treatment to fight blood. receive vital treatment necessary to undergo treatment
• It ensures that when a person is ready for treatment or already engaging successfully in treatment, a

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 213, which would allow optometrists to perform three specific laser procedures. The sponsor presented a committee substitute adding 32 hours of approved advanced training, supervised live-patient practice, adverse-event reporting, and other accountability measures. Supporters argued the bill would improve access to care, while the New Mexico Medical Board opposed it, citing patient-safety concerns and the much greater training required of ophthalmologists. After debate, the committee adopted the substitute and passed the bill 6-3. The committee then considered House Bill 65, renamed the Foster Care Plus pilot program. The substitute changed the bill to require clinical assessment instead of CAN assessment, added reporting to the Legislature and LFC, and clarified contracting with clinical experts. CYFD officials said the $2.5 million request, combined with existing growth funding, would support more children, staff, foster-parent stipends, and related services, and that the program is already being implemented with help from Oklahoma-based experts. Some members remained concerned about cost, staffing, and whether the program could be sustained, but the committee adopted the substitute and passed the bill 8-1. House Bill 127, on expedited medical licensure, was amended to create a provisional pathway for internationally trained physicians, require a job offer and benchmarks before full licensure, and establish a telemedicine registry. The Medical Board supported the amended bill, while public commenters emphasized physician shortages and access to care. The committee adopted the amendment and passed the bill. House Bill 128, which updates firefighter occupational disease and disablement presumptions to add cancers and other changes, drew strong support from firefighters, labor, and workers’ compensation officials; the committee adopted the amendment and passed the bill. House Bill 156, which removes the sunset on the state’s authority to set vaccine guidelines and continue its vaccine program, also passed after supporters argued it preserves access and opponents raised broader vaccine-policy concerns. The committee then began hearing House Bill 137, a buprenorphine access bill, with the sponsor and advocates describing pharmacy supply barriers and a committee substitute aimed at setting minimum stock standards, requiring distributor reporting, and avoiding fines on pharmacies.

Transcript Highlights:

• treatment.
• They can't get treatment, and it's just not covered.
• We do have many other treatment modalities available that we cover for... ...many other treatment modalities
• We know that treatment looks different.
• There's different kinds of treatment. But again, you have to know that treatment is an option.

Bills: H4796 , H4838

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Public Health

Keywords: organ transplant, emergency vehicle, transportation, medical personnel, regulation, organs, menopause, perimenopause, healthcare access, female health, public health, medical education, workplace policies, discrimination, accommodation

Transcript Highlights:

• ... ...to dental, optometry, behavioral health, pharmacy services, substance use treatment, reproductive
• services at our...
• The significant investment we make in these services is interpreter services at our health centers.
• That's a non-billable service.
• services, get paid the same rates as the PBM-owned pharmacies that provide these same services.

Committee: Joint Joint Committee on Financial Services

Summary: The committee held a lengthy hearing on a large docket of pharmacy and drug-pricing bills, with most testimony focused on PBM reform, 340B drug discount program protections, specialty medication access, and medication adherence. Chair James Murphy and Senator Paul Feeney opened the hearing and took testimony from legislators, patient advocates, pharmacists, health center leaders, industry representatives, and policy groups. Several speakers described delays, denials, high out-of-pocket costs, and pharmacy closures tied to PBM practices, while others emphasized the importance of community health centers and independent pharmacies in serving patients. On the 340B program, supporters including Senator Eldridge, Senator Payano, Community Care Cooperative, Fenway Health, the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, and several community health center leaders argued that bills such as H. 1107 and S. 819 would stop discriminatory PBM and manufacturer practices, preserve contract pharmacy access, and protect safety-net providers that say they reinvest savings into care, pharmacy expansion, interpreter services, behavioral health, and other services. Opponents including PhRMA, the Community Liver Alliance, and a public policy analyst argued the program lacks transparency and accountability, has grown beyond its original purpose, and may benefit large hospitals and for-profit entities more than low-income patients. They urged more reporting and oversight rather than expanding protections. On PBM reform, testimony supported bills including H. 1157, H. 1234, S. 724, S. 831, and related measures that would require rebate pass-through, ban spread pricing, limit steering to PBM-owned pharmacies, and improve reimbursement for community pharmacies. Independent pharmacists and patients said current PBM practices raise costs, create administrative burdens, and threaten access to local pharmacies. PCMA, representing PBMs, opposed the reforms, arguing PBMs lower costs, that plan sponsors choose to contract with them, and that the Health Policy Commission and CHIA should complete their ongoing study before new mandates are adopted. The committee also heard support for H. 1322 and S. 734 on specialty medications, and for H. 781 and H. 1305 on medication synchronization to improve adherence. No votes or formal actions were taken during the hearing.

Transcript Highlights:

• These services are already covered, so we aren't asking for new treatment.
• These services are already covered, so we aren't asking for new treatment.
• for disease condition, a type of health care treatment or service, provision of medical equipment, supplies
• for disease condition, a type of health care treatment or service, provision of medical equipment, supplies
• for disease condition, a type of health care treatment or service, provision of medical equipment, supplies

Committee: Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection

Transcript Highlights:

• </c><00:08:56.880><c> right</c> ask for Behavioral Health Services right ask for Behavioral Health Services
• Okay, next we have Angie Knight, Institute of Human Services, in support.
• I'm Daisy Hartsville, the Social Services Division Administrator for the Department of Human Services
• I'm the executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center.
• I'm the executive director of the Sex Abuse Treatment Center.

Committee: Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs

Summary: On the deferred agenda, the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs took up SB 1364, which makes emergency appropriations for law enforcement personnel costs, and SB 1452, which relates to the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. The chair recommended both measures pass with amendments, including technical corrections and a committee-report effective date of July 1, 2077. For SB 1364, the amendments included specified general fund and transfer fund amounts for DAGS, the Judiciary, and the Department of Law. For SB 1452, the chair said the bill was being corrected to fix a drug-name error that had been replicated from a federal mistake. Both recommendations were adopted by vote, with Senator Dort excused. The committee then discussed SB 1612, a joint measure on fitness to proceed that would require and appropriate funds for a five-year pilot program involving the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Department of Health, with interim and final reports to the Legislature. Testimony was mixed: the Judiciary and Department of Health were supportive, while the Office of the Public Defender and the Disability Rights Center opposed it, arguing it conflicted with best practices and the Clark consent order, and that people found not fit to proceed must be sent to the state hospital. DCR said its main concern was that the bill would still require patients to be housed in its facilities, which it said are not rehabilitative and are already strained by staffing shortages and limited access. The bill’s author argued the proposal was meant to create joint custody and reduce the high cost of state-hospital placement, but the committee did not take final action in the portion provided. In the joint hearing with Health and Human Services, the committees heard SB 1322, a broad rewrite of the state mental health code. The Attorney General supported the measure as a comprehensive cleanup and modernization effort, but many testifiers raised concerns. Queen’s Health System and Hawaii Health Systems Corporation supported the concept but warned about emergency-room impacts and asked for amendments; IHS supported the bill with a caveat about assisted community treatment procedures; and the Public Defender, Disability Rights Center, and others opposed parts of it, citing due process, privacy, HIPAA, counsel rights, liability immunity, and the reduction of an involuntary-treatment panel from three clinicians to one psychiatrist. The hearing also covered SB 951 on child protection, where the Department of Defense supported the bill and proposed technical amendments and MOUs with military components to clarify reporting and coordination procedures; DHS and the Attorney General said they were still working through possible changes. Finally, SB 228 on excited delirium was heard, with the Public Defender and Disability Rights Center supporting the bill and arguing the term has been misused and that better police de-escalation training is the real solution.

Transcript Highlights:

• Cancer treatment is about more than just survival.
• The problem is not the treatment; it's the access.
• The problem is not the treatment, it's the access.
• We provide comprehensive pediatric services.
• We provide comprehensive pediatric services. So.

Committee: Senate Health

Transcript Highlights:

• THESE ARE UNDER THE STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES.
• IT AFFIRMATIVELY REQUIRES PARENTAL CONSENT FOR THE SERVICES PROVIDED AFTER THE IMMEDIATE ON-SITE SERVICES
• SERVICES WITH PARENTAL CONSENT.
• WE DO NOT CONSIDER TREATMENT NECESSARY TO THAT CHILD'S WELL-BEING?
• REPRESENTING AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE WAIVES IN OPPOSITION.

Committee: House Education & Employment Committee

Transcript Highlights:

• But really what it does is it provides very necessary, specific Medicaid-reimbursed treatment and services
• One example is jail-based treatment.
• of service providers that create a lot of destitution in and around their service provision.
• We know that when you look at the data on homelessness, who's receiving services, homeless services,
• and you look at the... ...services, homeless services, and you look at the arrest reports and things

Transcript Highlights:

• treatment and housing supports<00:11:31.680><c> crisis</c><00:11:32.160><c> services</c><00:11:33.040
• Yeah, just make sure I understand all those different services, the five-level residential treatments
• Yeah, just make sure I understand all those different services, the five-level residential treatments
• <c> and</c> treatment or outpatient treatment and treatment or outpatient treatment and they<03:53:05.359
• Community-based services and supports — we have the outpatient treatment, we have the doorways.

Summary: The House Finance Committee’s Division 3 held a public work session on the Behavioral Health budget on February 27, 2025. The chair opened by explaining the schedule, materials, and deadlines for the budget process, and noted there would be no motions or votes in the division that day. Division of Behavioral Health Director Ktia Fox and DHHS CFO Nathan White then walked the committee through the division’s mission, structure, and budget materials, describing the division’s four bureaus: Mental Health Services, Children’s Behavioral Health, Drug and Alcohol Services, and Homeless Services, along with the policy unit. They emphasized the division’s role in oversight, technical assistance, quality assurance, contracting, and the continuum of care from prevention and early intervention through crisis and residential services. Much of the discussion focused on major programs and funding lines, including the 988 Lifeline contract with Headrest, a technical assistance contract with UNH, Medicaid pass-through payments to New Hampshire Hospital and Glencliff, crisis response services, cold-weather homeless responses, housing supports, and the children’s system of care. Members asked about the UNH contract, the 988 program, crisis stabilization centers, and the peer certification program; Fox explained that the peer certification is a training-and-credentialing pathway for people with lived experience to enter community-based behavioral health work, not a volunteer program. The committee also discussed the “Choose Love” program, which Fox said was created after the Sandy Hook tragedy to build resilience and strength-based emotional regulation in schools and communities. On the children’s side, Fox described the system of care account as the place where many contracted services are budgeted, including community mental health centers, care management entities, rapid response services, and residential programs. Members asked about temporary staffing, and Fox said roughly $500,000 in temporary staff costs shown in the current year would not be spent next year because the money came from a nonlapsing appropriation in HB 1573 for oversight of children’s residential services. She also said provider rate increases were a prioritized need but were not funded in the governor’s current budget, and that the Children’s Behavioral Health Resource Center was not funded, resulting in about a $1 million reduction. The session ended while the division was still moving through the children’s behavioral health slides, including questions about the Fast Forward high-fidelity wraparound program and medication management.

Transcript Highlights:

• And finally, you're gonna hear about our treatment courts.
• Regarding cost, most services are provided at little to no cost.
• with the Family Court Services Office.
• If they're not employed, report to community service.
• Treatment courts are a force multiplier in this fight.

Committee: Senate Judiciary and Rules

Transcript Highlights:

• McNally said he has been in public service since about 2008.
• He developed treatment plans and trained clinicians across the state in the assessment and treatment
• But at the end of your application... ...bringing the basis of treatment and what the treatment program
• I serve as the CEO for Community Youth Services, or CYS.
• service locations in Thurston, Pierce, Lewis, and Mason County.

Summary: The Senate Human Services Committee held a brief Monday meeting to hear two bills and a gubernatorial appointment. House Bill 2464, sponsored by Rep. Ortiz-Self, would require private detention facilities to report serious incidents such as abuse allegations, deaths, suicides, injuries requiring hospitalization, and service disruptions to the Department of Health and local law enforcement by the next business day, and would require annual law-enforcement reporting to DOH. Rep. Ortiz-Self said the bill is needed because private facilities have been inconsistent and delayed in sharing information, while state facilities already provide data more readily. Testimony from Columbia Legal Services, the League of Women Voters, La Resistencia, and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project strongly supported the bill, citing barriers to reporting crimes and concerns about abuse in private detention. The committee did not vote on the bill during the hearing, but the chair said it would be considered in executive session. The committee also heard Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2253, a DCYF request bill making several licensing-related changes for foster care, crisis residential centers, and child care. The bill would require immediate termination of certain child-specific foster licenses if high-potency synthetic opioids or illicit substances are found, exempt kinship caregivers from blood-borne pathogen training, allow DCYF to close inactive foster homes, remove sex designation from foster licenses, adjust CRC staffing ratios to one staff for four youth during waking hours and one for six during sleeping hours, and strengthen child care subsidy fraud enforcement through electronic attendance verification and possible license revocation. DCYF and Community Youth Services testified in support, describing the changes as technical fixes that align statute with current practice and reduce burden on providers. Committee members raised concerns that some child care provisions may belong in a different committee and noted the need to ensure the bill does not duplicate or conflict with existing licensing and fraud rules. The committee then held a confirmation hearing for Corey McNally, reappointed to the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board. McNally described the board’s role in release decisions, supervision conditions, violation management, and release plans, and discussed his background in community mental health, the Special Commitment Center, DOC sex offense treatment, and ISRB leadership. Members asked about advances in sex offense assessment and treatment, the distinction between ISRB cases and sexually violent predator civil commitment, board consistency and recidivism work, and victim participation in hearings. McNally said the board uses structured decision-making and actuarial risk assessments, remains neutral on legislation, and provides victim liaisons to offer participation options. The chair closed the hearings, noted the committee would meet the next day on a large packet of bills and one appointment, and adjourned.