Section 22 Advisory council; advisory boards
Section 22. There is hereby established an advisory council to the division to advise on the overall operation and policy of the division. The council shall consider any item recommended by the commissioner, the chairman of the council, a majority of the council members or by a subcommittee of the council and shall have the right to at least sixty days prior review and comment on any proposed rule or regulation of the division, with the exception of regulations promulgated on an emergency basis. The council shall consist of the commissioner, the commissioners of the departments of medical assistance, transitional assistance, children and families, public health and education and the secretaries of the executive offices of health and human services, elder affairs, and administration and finance or their respective designees and sixteen members to be appointed by the commissioner for terms of three years. The commissioner shall fill any vacancy of members so appointed which may occur in the council for the remainder of the unexpired term. Of the appointed members, eight shall be providers of, or representatives of provider organizations, whose rates of reimbursement are determined by the commissioner and eight shall be non-providers with demonstrated experience in the field of consumer advocacy and with no financial interest in any provider of services whose rates of reimbursement are determined by the division. The provider appointees shall reflect the interests and concerns of all providers rendering services for which rates of reimbursement are established by the division. No single provider group, organization of providers, or class of provider shall have more than one representative on said council unless each provider group or class of provider is represented on the council. Two of the non-provider members shall be selected from recommendations by state-wide organizations representing the interests of the elderly and two non-provider members shall be selected from recommendations made by state-wide labor organizations; provided however, that one of the two non-provider members so selected from recommendations made by state-wide labor organizations shall be selected from recommendations made by the Massachusetts State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. All appointed members shall be reimbursed for their necessary travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
The council shall meet at least three times annually and upon the call of the chairman or upon written application to the chairman by any eight members. The council shall annually elect a chairman from among its non-provider members. The council may appoint subcommittees; provided, however, that at all times there are at least four council members on each subcommittee, two of whom are providers and two of whom are non-providers; and provided, further, that at all times the total subcommittee membership consists of equal numbers of providers and non-providers. The subcommittees shall from time to time make recommendations to the division on matters of policy and operation of the division. The council shall be notified at least ten days in advance of any public meeting or hearing scheduled by the division.
There shall be an advisory board to advise the division relative to small business access to affordable health care. Such board shall consist of nine members appointed by the commissioner, five of whom shall represent small businesses, one of whom shall be an agent or broker of health insurance, one of whom shall represent a hospital service corporation, one of whom shall represent a health insurance company, and one of whom shall represent a health maintenance organization. Said board shall meet from time to time and shall advise the commissioner on all matters concerning small businesses for which the division is authorized to establish programs, and shall review menu or cafeteria plans, so-called, for the purpose of recommending whether such plans ought to be included as an allowable deduction under subsection (c) of section fourteen G of chapter one hundred and fifty-one A. Said board shall further advise the division on all matters relating to small business health insurance reform in relation to chapter one hundred and seventy-six J.
There shall be an advisory board to advise the division on matters relative to the uninsured. Such board shall consist of nine members appointed by the commissioner, three of whom shall be consumer representatives, one of whom shall be an organized labor representative, one of whom shall be a hospital representative, one of whom shall be a community health center representative, one of whom shall be a physician representative, one of whom shall be a health insurance representative, and one of whom shall be a business representative. Such board shall advise the division on all matters relative to the programs of the division to provide health insurance to the uninsured.
The commissioner may establish such other advisory boards as he deems necessary to advise it in matters relating to the functions, duties and powers set forth in this chapter.