Section 47. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Public University Health Center Sexual and Reproductive Health Preparation Fund for the purpose of medication abortion readiness. The fund shall be administered by the department of public health, in consultation with the department of higher education. The fund shall be credited with: (i) revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; and (ii) funds from non-state entities, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants and donations from private entities and local and federal government agencies. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 15A sec. 47

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.

(b) The department of public health shall utilize money in the fund to:

(i) provide a grant to each health center to pay for the cost of direct and indirect medication abortion readiness; provided, however, that, the department shall prioritize applications from the University of Massachusetts and state university segments and create a simple application process for community colleges to apply for funding; and provided further, that allowable expenses under these grants shall include, but not be limited to: (A) the purchase of equipment used in the provision of medication abortions; (B) facility and security upgrades; (C) costs associated with enabling the health center to deliver telehealth services; (D) costs associated with training staff in the provision of medication abortions; (E) staff cost reimbursement and clinical revenue offset while staff are in trainings; and (F) billing specialist consultation;

(ii) pay the direct and indirect costs of the department of public health associated with administration of the fund, including the costs of hiring staff; and

(iii) maintain a system of financial reporting on all aspects of the fund.

(c) Each health center grantee shall, as a condition of receiving a grant award from the fund, participate in an evaluation of its medication abortion readiness and its provision of medication abortions.

(d) The department of public health, working with the health centers, shall assist and advise on potential pathways for health centers to access public and private payers to provide funding for ongoing costs of providing medication abortions.

(e)(1) Annually, not later than December 31, the department of public health shall submit a report to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, including, but not limited to, all of the following information for each reporting period:

(i) an accounting of the medication abortion plans of all institutions, including, but not limited to, a list of institutions that have submitted plans deemed adequate by the department, a list of institutions that are actively developing a remedial plan and a list of institutions that have not submitted an adequate plan to the department;

(ii) the number of medication abortions provided at health centers, disaggregated, to the extent possible, by the health center;

(iii) the total amount of funds granted by the department of public health to each institution and its health center from the fund that is expended on medication abortion readiness and the total amount of any other funds expended on medication abortion readiness and the source of those funds, disaggregated by use and, to the extent possible, health center; and

(iv) the total amount of funds expended on the provision of medication abortions and the source of those funds, disaggregated by use and, to the extent possible, health center.

(2) The report required in paragraph (1) and any associated data collected shall comply with state and federal privacy laws, including, but not limited to, section 70E of chapter 111, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191.

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