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 have different fee percentages 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. The bill also modifies the timeline for hospitals to submit their revenue computations and licensing fee returns, changing the due date to August 1, 2025, and the fiscal year ending date to 2024.

Additionally, the bill introduces a new section to Chapter 42-12.4, authorizing the executive office of health and human services to maintain and enforce the practice of amending regulations for reimbursement to Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MMCOs) and directing MMCOs to make quarterly state-directed payments to hospitals for inpatient and outpatient services, effective from July 1, 2023. These payments shall be made in accordance with the payment methodology contained in the approved CMS preprint for hospital state-directed payments. The act is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
848: 23-17-38.1