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H2507 • 2025

An Act assessing health care access

An Act assessing health care access

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Edward R. Philips
Last action
2026-03-16
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5234
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act assessing health care access

An Act assessing health care access By Representative Philips of Sharon, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act assessing health care access By Representative Philips of Sharon, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 2507) of Edward R.
  • Philips and Michael D.
  • Brady that the Department of Public Health, the Health Policy Commission and the Center for Health Information Analysis study current access to essential health services.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-16 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5234

  2. 2025-09-11 House

    Reporting date extended to Tuesday, October 21, 2025

  3. 2025-06-16 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 06/25/2025 from 10:00 AM-01:00 PM in A-1

  4. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Public Health

  5. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act assessing health care access
By Representative Philips of Sharon, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2507) of Edward R. Philips and Michael D. Brady that the Department of Public Health, the Health Policy Commission and the Center for Health Information Analysis study current access to essential health services. Public Health.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.2507

Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end the following section:

The Department, in consultation with the Health Policy Commission and the Center for Health Information Analysis, shall commission a study to examine current access to essential health services, as defined by the department of public health under section 51G of chapter 111,

provided by the Commonwealth’s acute care hospitals and in-patient psychiatric hospitals, the effect of the discontinuation of essential health services on that access, the projected

need for those services in all regions of the Commonwealth over the next decade and provide recommendations as to how ensure access to those essential health services. This study shall include, but not be limited to (i) the current

number of beds and services provided by each hospital in each region, including the most recent year’s admission and discharge data for each service by hospital; (ii) review discontinuations of essential health services by hospitals since 1992 and their effect on access to these essential health services; (ii) review hospital closures since 1992 and their effect on access to these essential health services;(iii) review plans provided to the department of public health following the discontinuation of essential services for compliance and identify where essential health services were provided following the discontinuation; (iv) calculate projected need for essential health services in each region; (v) calculate projected need, if any, for providers of essential health services to meet regional needs over the next decade; (vi) examine financial conditions that might lead to the discontinuation of essential health services, including but not limited to private and public reimbursement rates; (vii) identify essential health services by region that might be vulnerable to discontinuation over the next three years; (viii) examine the need for additional post in-patient discharge services (viii) Identify steps protect essential health services provided by financially vulnerable acute acre and inpatient psychiatric hospitals; (ix) review methods implemented in other states to discourage and manage the discontinuation of essential health services by acute care hospitals and in-patient psychiatric hospitals closures; and (x) recommend any policy changes to assure access to essential health services in all regions of the Commonwealth.

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