Section 53: Health Care Facility Total Cost Reporting Requirement

Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, the division of health care finance and policy, in consultation with the division of insurance, shall promulgate regulations on or before January 1, 2011 to establish uniform methodology for calculating and reporting inpatient and outpatient costs, including direct and indirect costs, for all hospitals under section 6 of chapter 118G of the General Laws. The division shall, as necessary and appropriate, promulgate regulations or amendments to its existing regulations to require hospitals to report cost and cost trend information in a uniform manner including, but not limited to, uniform methodologies for reporting the cost and cost trend for categories of direct labor, debt service, depreciation, advertising and marketing, bad debt, stop-loss insurance, malpractice insurance, health information technology, medical management, development, fundraising, research, academic costs, charitable contributions, and operating margins for all commercial business and for all state and federal government business, including but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, insurance through the group insurance commission and federal Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services. The division shall, before adopting regulations under this section, consult with the group insurance commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the attorney general and representatives from the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Health Information Management Association the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium.