John Lawn — John Lawn opened the hearing by identifying himself as the House Chair, and he was later referred to as Chair during the same opening context.
John Lawn — Addressed as Chair Lawn at the start of the next witness's remarks.
John Lawn — Addressed as Chair Lawn when the virtual witness is invited to speak.
John Lawn — Chair Lawn is greeted as a committee chair.
John Lawn — John Lawn is referenced in his role as a committee leader: first as chair of the committee, and then as one of the offices to which written testimony may be submitted alongside Senator Friedman.
John Moran — Listed as present on the House side.
David Muradian — David Muradian is listed as present on the House side; his name appears in the transcript in slightly different forms ('Meridian' and 'Mr. Meridian').
Lindsay Sabadosa — Representative Lindsay Sabadosa is listed as present on the House side; her name appears in the transcript as 'Sabadoza.'
Chynah Tyler — Representative Chynah Tyler is listed as present on the House side, with the transcript also identifying her as Representative China Tyler of Boston.
Hannah Kane — Noted as expected to join soon.
Hannah Kane — Recognized as having joined the meeting.
Kelly Dooner — Kelly Dooner is acknowledged as present on the Senate side; the transcript notes 'Senator Duner is here.'
Julian Cyr — Julian Cyr is expected to join and is later confirmed to be online.
Julian Cyr — The chair thanks Senator Gomez for his testimony; the section also includes a likely misrecognition of the chair's name as 'Senator Friedman.'
Pavel Payano — Noted as expected to join.
William Driscoll — Noted as expected to join.
Paul Feeney — Acknowledged as having joined online.
Representative Lisa Field — Testified in support of HB 4623 and described autism service wait-list delays.
John Hoffman — John Hoffman is named among the people expected to testify on the bills, and the speaker then notes that he does not appear to be present.
John Hoffman — John Hoffman, Senior Director of State Policy with the American Kidney Fund, appears virtually to testify on behalf of Massachusetts residents living with kidney failure. He explains that the organization serves about 13,000 residents with kidney failure and asks the committee to support two bills that would make a technical fix to existing law, allowing ESRD patients to purchase Medigap coverage.
Sherry Rodriguez-Jones — Sherry Rodriguez-Jones is named alongside John Hoffman and Elizabeth Lively as one of the witnesses/testifiers for the upcoming bills.
Sherry Rodriguez-Jones — Sherry Rodriguez-Jones introduces herself and explains that she survived more than 18 years on dialysis, beginning as a young first-time parent. She describes the many surgeries and complications she endured, notes that a rare autoimmune disease caused her immune system to attack her kidneys, and explains that stable secondary insurance was essential for transplant eligibility. She also says she was 99% sensitized, which contributed to her waiting seven and a half years for a kidney transplant.
Elizabeth Lively — Elizabeth Lively is first mentioned as one of the witnesses/testifiers for the upcoming bills and as part of the dialysis patient citizens group working with the speaker. She then appears directly to introduce herself, stating that she is the Eastern Region advocacy director for Dialysis Patient Citizens.
Sherry Rodriguez — Named as part of the dialysis patient citizens group working with the speaker.
Sherry — Cited as a perfect example of someone who could return to work after transplant.
John Cronin — The transcript says 'Representative Stanley,' which appears to be a garbled reference; preserved as uncertain and not mapped to a member ID.
Paul Frost — Recognized as having joined the meeting.
Tommy Vitolo — Tommy Vitolo is recognized as having joined the meeting and likely to ask a question, then speaks to thank Senator Gomez for leading him and other legislators on a tour of a dialysis center.
Tiffany Tessman Ewing — Introduced as a remote testifier and senior consulting actuary at Wakely.
Annie Tasman Ewing / Tiffany Tessman Ewing — Introduces herself as a senior consulting actuary with Wakely and begins testimony on the MassHealth impact analysis.
Community Autism Services — Community Autism Services is identified as Dr. Beaton’s employer and the service setting in Brockton, and it is also noted as the organization that retained the actuary to prepare the financial analysis.
Sandra Beaton — The next in-person witness signed up to testify on House Bill 4623.
Dr. Sandra Beaton — Dr. Sandra Beaton, senior clinical manager at Community Autism Services in Brockton, testifies in strong support of House Bill 4623. She explains that she has practiced as a behavior analyst in Massachusetts for 22 years and describes the serious delays families face in accessing ABA services, using a family example to illustrate the urgency and statewide nature of the problem. The exchange concludes with the committee thanking her and indicating no questions.
Megan Van Nostrand — Megan Van Nostrand is identified as part of the in-person panel.
Dr. Rebecca Thompson — Dr. Rebecca Thompson is introduced as part of the in-person panel and then begins her testimony, identifying herself as Chair of Massachusetts Providers for ABA Access and Quality (MPAC) and speaking in support of the bills.
Tiffany Zays — Tiffany Zays is named as part of the in-person panel.
Tiffany Zayez — Tiffany Zayez, a senior regional clinical director with BCI, introduced herself and testified in support of the bills, describing BCI’s autism services, MassHealth coverage, and the difficulty of maintaining operations under stagnant reimbursement.
Dr. Megan Van Nostrand — Dr. Megan Van Nostrand introduced herself as a senior regional clinical director at BCI and explained that she oversees clinical teams delivering ABA services to children and families in northeastern Massachusetts, emphasizing the importance of individualized, timely care provided by stable teams.
Dr. Maria McLean — Dr. Maria McLean was introduced as a remote witness and then testified on behalf of the Massachusetts Association for Behavior Analysis in support of House Bill 4353 and Senate Bill 2587.
Cindy Friedman — Chair Friedman is greeted as a committee chair.
Cindy Friedman — Cindy Friedman is referenced as a committee leader/chair, and attendees are directed to send written testimony to Senator Friedman’s office along with the other committee leaders.
Kip Diggs — Listed as present on the House side.
Judith Garcia — Listed as present on the House side; name appears as 'Judas Garcia' in transcript.
Christopher Markey — Listed as present on the House side.
Christopher Markey — Representative Christopher Markey is called on and asks about the time spent dealing with insurance for anti-rejection medicine, with later references to his question tying into follow-up discussion about eligibility and the bill’s impact.
Cindy Friedman — Cindy Friedman is introduced as the Senate Chair and co-chair, invited to offer comments, speaks in support of the hearing and agrees with her co-chair, and is later referenced again as Chair.
Cindy Friedman — Addressed as Chair Friedman at the start of the next witness's remarks.
Cindy Friedman — Addressed as Chair Friedman when the virtual witness is invited to speak.
Cindy Friedman — Senator Gomez thanks Chair Friedman and the committee, then notes that Senator Friedman has a question. Friedman then follows up directly by asking a question about why the ESRD carve-out was included in the statute.