Bill
S 890
Studies long acute-care stays over 60 days to identify prevalence, causes, costs, barriers to appropriate discharge, and funding gaps for better care alignment.
Status and procedural notes
- Introduced (Senate) March 6, 2025; docketed Jan 17, 2025 as Senate No. 890.
- Referred to committees (records show referrals to Social Services and to Health Care Financing; a hearing was scheduled for 06/02/2025). The formal bill text indicates assignment to the Health Policy Commission for the mandated study.
- The bill text directs a report to legislative committees not later than 180 days after the act’s effective date.
- Metadata provided with the request contains inconsistencies (e.g., a different short title at the top, and an unusual list of federal sponsor names). This summary is based on the bill text included in the request (study of acute-care stays >60 days).
Purpose and intent
- Require a statewide, interagency analysis and report on acute care hospital stays that exceed 60 days, with the goal of identifying prevalence, causes, costs, and barriers to appropriate placement or discharge.
Key provisions
- Lead agencies: Health Policy Commission (HPC), in consultation with:
- Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA)
- Department of Public Health (DPH)
- Division of Health Insurance
- Division of Medical Assistance (Medicaid)
- Required report elements (explicit list):
1. Aggregate, de-identified patient-level information on long stays: diagnoses/conditions, insurance coverage, and demographic data.
2. Analysis of barriers to reimbursement and insurance coverage related to immigration status.
3. Average length of such stays.
4. Barriers preventing care in clinically-appropriate settings (post-acute care, long-term care, home-based services).
5. Hospital efforts to safely and efficiently discharge or transfer patients to appropriate post-acute settings.
6. Assessment of adequacy of current funding sources and recommendations for additional funding sources to reimburse hospitals for bad debt associated with these stays.
7. Recommendations to ensure patients receive care at the most appropriate level for their clinical needs.
- Submission: Report and any legislative recommendations to chairs of the joint committee on health care financing and to the House and Senate ways and means committees within 180 days of the Act’s effective date.
Who would be affected
- Patients with acute-care hospital stays longer than 60 days (including immigrant patients facing coverage barriers).
- Acute care hospitals (financial and operational impacts from long-stay patients).
- Payers and insurers (including Medicaid/Division of Medical Assistance), and state health financing bodies.
- State agencies named as report authors/consultants (HPC, CHIA, DPH, Division of Health Insurance, Division of Medical Assistance).
- Potentially post-acute care providers and long-term care providers if transfer/discharge barriers are identified.
Potential impact
- Generates data and policy recommendations to reduce inappropriate long acute-care stays, improve discharge/transfer pathways, identify funding gaps (including bad debt burdens), and inform legislative or regulatory changes to align care setting with clinical needs.
- No appropriation or program changes are mandated by the bill itself; it is an evidence-gathering measure intended to inform future policy and funding decisions.
Next steps
- Completion of the mandated 180-day analysis/report by HPC with named partners, followed by legislative consideration of any recommendations.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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