The bill amends Section 23-17-38.1 of the General Laws regarding hospital licensing fees, introducing a new fee structure for state fiscal year 2026. It establishes a tiered system for non-government owned hospitals based on their net patient-services revenue, with three tiers that differentiate fees for inpatient and outpatient services. The executive office of health and human services, in consultation with the tax administrator, is tasked with identifying hospitals in each tier by July 15, 2025, and notifying them of their tier assignments by August 1, 2025.

Additionally, the bill specifies that any funds collected from the licensing fee in excess of ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) shall be used to increase Medicaid reimbursement for hospitals under managed care and fee-for-service, subject to approval by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This includes fee-for-service upper payment limit payments, disproportionate share hospital payments, Medicaid rate increases, and state-directed managed care payments.

Furthermore, the bill introduces a new section to Chapter 42-12.4, authorizing the executive office of health and human services to maintain and enforce regulations for Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MMCO) to make quarterly state-directed payments to hospitals for inpatient and outpatient services, following a specified payment methodology. The act is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
6095: 23-17-38.1