An Act to Protect Patients by Prohibitmg Certam Medical Facility Fees
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1795
Committee Amendment CA_A_S335 (Senate)
Amends: 22 MRSA §8712

COMMITTEE AMEND1\1ENT "I) " to S P 720, L D 1795, "An Act to Protect 
Patients by Prohibitmg Certam Medical Facility Fees" 
Amend the bill by stnkmg out the title and substitutmg the followmg 
'An Act to Create Greater Transparency for Facility Fees Charged by Health Care 
Providers and to Establish the Task Force to Evaluate the Impact of Facility Fees on 
Patients' 
Amend the bill by stnkmg out everythmg after the enactmg clause and msertmg the 
followmg 
'Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §8712, sub-§2-A is enacted to read 
2-A 
Facility fees charged by health care providers. By January 1, 2024, and 
annually thereafter, the orgamzat10n shall produce and post on its publicly accessible 
website a report on the payments for facility fees made by payors to the extent that payment 
mformat1on 1s already reported to the orgamzation The orgamzat1on shall submit the report 
reqmred by this subsection to the Office of Affordable Health Care established m Title 5, 
section 3122 and the 10mt standmg committee of the Legislature havmg mnsd1ct10n over 
health data reportmg and health msurance matters 
The 1omt standmg committee may 
report out leg1slat1on based on the report to a first regulai or second regular sess10n of the 
Legislature, dependmg on the year m which the report 1s submitted 
For the purposes of this subsection, unless the context otherwise mdicates, the followmg 
terms have the followmg meamngs 
A 
"Facility fee" means any fee charged or billed by a health care provider for 
outpatient services provided m a hospital-based facility or freestandmg eme1 gency 
facility that is mtended to compensate the health care provider for the operational 
expenses of the health care provider, separate and distmct from a professional fee, and 
charged or billed regardless of how a health care service is provided 
B 
"Health care provider" means a person, whether for profit or nonprofit, that 
furmshes bills or is paid for health care service delivery m the normal course of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROS 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S P 720, L D 1795 (s~ ,3'!fS') 
busmess "Health care provider" mcludes, but 1s not hm1ted to, a health system, 
hospital, hospital-based fac1hty, freestandmg emergency fac1hty or urgent care chmc 
Sec. 2. Task force established. The Task Force to Evaluate the Impact of Facility 
Fees on Patients, referred tom this sect10n as "the task force," 1s established as follows 
1. Appomtments; compositmn. Notw1thstandmg Jomt Rule 353, the task force 
consists of 8 votmg members and 2 ex officio nonvotmg members as follows 
A Four members must be appomted by the President of the Senate as follows 
( 1) One member of the Senate, 
(2) One member representmg a statewide orgamzat10n supportmg the mterests of 
health care consumers, 
(3) One member representmg the mterests of health msurance carriers, and 
( 4) One member with expertise, knowledge and background m health care pohcy, 
B Four members must be appomted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
as follows 
( 1) One member of the House of Representatives, 
(2) One member representmg a statewide orgamzat10n of retired persons, 
(3) One member representmg a statewide orgamzation of hospitals, and 
( 4) One member representmg a hospital m the State, and 
C Two ex offic10 nonvotmg members as follows 
( 1) The Director of the Office of MameCare Services withm the Department of 
Health and Human Services or the director's designee, and 
(2) The Director of the Office of Affordable Health Care 01 the director's designee 
2. Chairs. The member of the Senate is the Senate chair and the member of the House 
of Representatives is the House chair of the task force Notwithstandmg Jomt Rule 353, the 
chairs may appomt, as nonvotmg members, mdividuals with expertise m health care pohcy, 
health cru e financmg or health care delivery Any additional members appomted pursuant 
to this subsection are not entitled to compensation or reimbursement under subsection 5 
3. Appomtments; convenmg. All appomtments must be made no later than 30 days 
followmg the effective date of this Act The appomtmg authont1es shall notify the 
Executive Director of the Legislative Council once all appomtments have been completed 
After appomtment of all members, the chairs shall call and convene the first meetmg of the 
task force If 30 days or more after the effective date of this Act a maJonty of but not all 
appomtments have been made, the chairs may request authority and the Legislative Counctl 
may grant authority for the task force to meet and conduct its busmess 
4. Duties. The task force shall 
A Review the mdustry practices for chargmg facility fees, uses of the funds received 
as fac1hty fees and impacts on patients of paymg facility fees charged by health care 
providers, 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
\ 
\ 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" /J. "to SP 720, L D 1795 (,,s .33s) 
B Review federal transparency reqmrements for hospitals and health msurance camers 
regardmg cost of treatment, identify any gaps or redundancies between state laws and 
federal laws and 1dent1fy any problems with enforcement of those laws, 
C Consider efforts m other states and by nat10nal orgamzations related to regulation 
of, or mm1m1zat10n of, fac1hty fees and the potential effects such efforts might have on 
health care costs m this State, and 
D Make recommendat10ns for changes m laws or rules regardmg fac1hty fees and 
medical cost transparency based on the mformat10n exammed under this subsection 
5. Compensation. The leg1slat1ve members of the task force are entitled to receive the 
legislative per diem, as set out m the Mame Revised Statutes, Title 3, sect10n 2, and 
reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses related to their attendance at 
authorized meetmgs of the task force Pubhc members not otherwise compensated by their 
employers or other entities that they represent are entitled to receive reimbursement of 
necessary expenses and, upon a demonstration of financial hardship, a per diem equal to 
the leg1slat1ve per diem for thetr attendance at authorized meetmgs of the task force 
6. Quorum. A quorum 1s a maJority of the votmg members of the task force, mcludmg 
those members mv1ted to part1c1pate who have accepted the mvitat1on to participate 
7. Staffing. The Leg1slat1ve Council shall provide staff support for the task force To 
the extent needed when the Legislature 1s m session, the Legislative Council may contract 
for such staff support 1f sufficient fundmg 1s available 
8. Consultants; add1tJ.onal staff assistance. The task f01ce may sohc1t the services of 
one or more outside consultants to assist the task force to the extent resources are available 
Upon request, the Office of Affordable Health Care, the Department of Health and Human 
Services, the Department of Professional and Fmancial Regulation, Bureau of Insm ance 
and the Mame Health Data Orgamzation shall provide add1t10nal staffing assistance to the 
task force to ensure the task force has the mformat1on necessary to fulfill the1r duties under 
this sect10n 
9. Reports. The task force shall submit a report no later than December 6, 2023 that 
mcludes its findmgs and recommendat10ns, mcludmg suggested leg1slat10n, to the Jomt 
Standmg Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Fmancial Services and the 
committee may report out a bill based on the report to the Second Regular Session of the 
st Legislature 
10. Additmnal fundmg; sources The task force may apply for and receive funds, 
grants or contracts from pubhc and pnvate sources to support its act1vit1es under this 
section 
11. Defimt1on. For purposes of this section, "facility fees" and "healthcare provider" 
have the same meanmgs as m the Mame Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 8712, 
subsect10n 2-A' 
Amend the bill by relettermg or renumbermg any nonconsecutive Part letter or section 
number to read consecutively 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROS 
COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"/J"toSP 720,LD 1795 {S•3$) 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill and changes the title The amendment establishes the 
Task Force to Evaluate the Impact of Fac1hty Fees on Patients The amendment also 
reqmres the Mame Health Data Orgamzat1on to annually report on payments made by 
pay ors m this State for fac1hty fees charged by health care pl ov1ders 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
) 
/ 
npproved 06/03/23 f/:PaC!. 
LD 1795 
LR 51(02) 
An Act to Protect Patients by Prohibitmg Certam Medical Facihty Fees 
Fiscal Note for BIii as Amended by ComID1ttee Amendment ''If (S·.3'35') 
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Fmancial Services 
Fiscal Note Required· Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Legislative Cost/Study 
Legislative Cost/Study 
The general operatmg expenses of this study are projected to be $1,650 m fiscal year 2023-24 The Legislature's 
proposed budget for the 2024-2025 bienmum mcludes $14,500 m each of fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25 for the 
costs of legislative studies, as well as $2,234 m proJected balances from fiscal year 2022-23 and $36,777 of balances 
earned over from pnor years for this purpose Whether these amounts are sufficient to fund all studies will depend on 
the number of studies authonzed by the Legislative Co1mcil and the Legislature The addit10nal costs of providmg 
staffing assistance to the study dunng the mtenm can be absorbed utihzmg existmg budgeted staff resources 
Fiscal DetaII and Notes 
Additional costs to the Mame Health Data Orgamzat10n for the bill's reqmred annual reportmg are assumed to be 
mmor and can be absorbed w1thm existmg budgeted resources Addit10nal costs to the Office of Affordable Health 
Care and to the Department of Health and Human Services', Office of MameCare Services to participate on the task 
force are assumed to be imnor and can be absorbed w1thm existmg budgeted resources Additional costs to the 
departments and agencies designated to provide staff assistance to the task force are assumed to be mmor and can be 
absm bed withm ex1stmg budgeted resources 
LR0051(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1