The Honorable Ronald Mariano
Speaker, Massachusetts House of Representatives
State House, Room 356
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Mr. Speaker:
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is grateful for your leadership in the continued effort to address the many issues impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I write today, on behalf of our membership, to respectfully ask that the House support and pass
the measure included in S.2982 that would further delay certain notice and disclosure requirements contained in the Patients First Act (Chapter 260 of the Acts of 2020) until January 1, 2025.
The aim of the state provisions at hand — to empower patients with timely notice and cost disclosures — is largely achieved through the federal No Surprises Act (NSA), which took effect on January 1, 2022. The overlapping state and federal laws have created
significant challenges and unnecessary administrative burden for physicians seeking in good faith to comply with both laws concurrently, coming at an incredibly challenging time for physician practices with significant workforce challenges. A further
delay of the state provisions would greatly benefit both providers and patients by eliminating unnecessary administrative redundancy and streamlining relevant information for patients. The delay also allows more time for additional anticipated federal
rulemaking, which will be most helpful to understanding the best path forward in reconciling the state and federal laws. In the meantime, the NSA will protect patients from surprise medical bills and offer significant patient protections consistent
with the aims of analogous provisions contained in C. 260.
We appreciate your continued leadership and look forward to working with you on other important health care and public health issues this session.
Sincerely,
Theodore A. Calianos II, MD, FACS
View a PDF version of this letter here.
