Resolve, to Establish the Rural Health Services Task Force
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1792
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: JACKSON, ALBERT, BALDACCI, STEWART, BABIN, DILL, GUERRETTE, MEYER, THERIAULT

Legislative Document
No. 1792
S.P. 717
In Senate, April 25, 2023
Resolve, to Establish the Rural Health Services Task Force
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by President JACKSON of Aroostook.
Cosponsored by Representative ALBERT of Madawaska and
Senators: BALDACCI of Penobscot, STEWART of Aroostook, Representatives: BABIN of 
Fort Fairfield, DILL of Old Town, GUERRETTE of Caribou, MEYER of Eliot, THERIAULT 
of Fort Kent.
Sec. 1.  Task force established.  Resolved: That the Rural Health Services Task 
Force, referred to in this resolve as "the task force," is established.
Sec. 2.  Task force membership. Resolved: That, notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, 
the task force consists of 10 members as follows:
1. The Executive Director of the Office of Affordable Health Care or the executive 
director's designee; 
2. The director of the office of rural health and primary care within the Department of 
Health and Human Services; 
3. The following members appointed by the President of the Senate:
A. Two members from a statewide organization representing hospitals located in 
different regions of the State and that face different levels of financial stability;
B. One member from a statewide organization representing primary care providers 
working in federally qualified health centers; and
C. One member from a statewide organization representing physicians; and
4.  The following members appointed by the Speaker of the House:
A. One member from an organization that advocates for consumers of health care that 
use free clinic programs and other safety net programs in the State;
B. One member who is a provider of behavioral health services in a rural part of the 
State;
C. One member from a statewide organization that represents providers of home health 
services; and
D. One member from a statewide organization that represents long-term care providers.
Sec. 3.  Meetings; chair; quorum. Resolved: That the Executive Director of the 
Office of Affordable Health Care or the executive director's designee shall call the first 
meeting of the task force. Notwithstanding Joint Rule 353, the task force shall select a chair 
from among its members at the first meeting. A majority of the membership of the task 
force constitutes a quorum.
Sec. 4.  Duties. Resolved: That the task force shall consider rural health care delivery 
in the State, including:
1. Evaluating the current system of rural health care delivery in the State, including the 
role of rural hospitals in the health care continuum;
2. Identifying how to ensure the sustainability of the rural health care system, including 
identifying the major financial, administrative and workforce barriers and providing 
technical assistance to support sustainability;
3. Proposing ways to overcome existing barriers to the sustainability of the rural health 
care system, including ideas to preserve access to health care services in rural parts of the 
State across the health care continuum;
4. Proposing ways to encourage and improve care coordination among institutional and 
community service providers; 
5. Determining if alternative payment models would improve access to and quality of 
rural health care delivery; and 
6. Assessing the potential consequences of one or more rural hospitals in the State 
closing.
Sec. 5.  Staff assistance. Resolved: That the Department of Health and Human 
Services and the Office of Affordable Health Care shall provide staff assistance to the task 
force.
Sec. 6.  Report. Resolved: That the task force shall prepare and submit a written 
report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services on its 
recommendations, including suggested legislation, no later than December 6, 2023.
SUMMARY
This resolve establishes the Rural Health Services Task Force to study rural health 
care delivery in the State.