Section 8 (Part 1): Commonwealth Care Trust Fund

There is hereby established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund, in this section called the trust fund. There shall be credited to the trust fund: (a) all contributions collected under section 188 of chapter 149, (b) all revenue from surcharges imposed under section 18B of chapter 118G, (c) any transfers from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund, established by section 57 of chapter 118E, (d) revenue deposited from penalties collected under chapter 111M. Amounts credited to the trust fund shall be expended without further appropriation for programs designed to increase health coverage, including a program of subsidized health insurance provided to low-income residents of the commonwealth under chapter 118H and rate increases to certain Medicaid providers and supplemental payments to certain publicly operated or public-service hospital entities, as determined by law. Money from the trust fund may be transferred to the Uncompensated Care Trust Fund, established by section 18 of chapter 118G, or any successor fund, as necessary to provide payments to acute hospitals and community health centers for reimbursable health services. Not later than January 1, the comptroller shall report an update of revenues for the current fiscal year and prepare estimates of revenues to be credited to the trust fund in the subsequent fiscal year. The comptroller shall file this report with the secretary of administration and finance, the office of Medicaid, the joint committee on health care financing, and the house and senate committees on ways and means. If revenues credited to the trust fund are less than the amounts estimated to be credited to the trust fund, the comptroller shall duly notify the secretary, office and committees that this revenue deficiency shall require proportionate reductions in expenditures from the revenues available to support programs appropriated from the trust fund.