Massachusetts House passes health care bill to help community hospitals
The Massachusetts House passed a major health care bill late Tuesday night. “We recognize the complex factors that are driving the health care marketplace right now and view this legislation as a smart, stabilizing mechanism to ensure residents in each corner of the Commonwealth have access to quality care throughout the changes,” said House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, in a statement. The bill H.4617, was named “The Honorable Peter V. Kocot Act to Enhance Access to High Quality Affordable and Transparent Healthcare in the Commonwealth,” after the late Northampton Democrat who, as House chairman of the Committee on Health Care Financing, led the House’s effort to craft the bill before his death in February.