Section 10 Contracts for services with acute and non-acute hospitals; uniform charges; penalties for excess charges - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 10. All purchasers and third party payers, excluding purchasers and payers under the workers’ compensation act, except as provided in chapter one hundred fifty-two, may enter into contractual arrangements with acute and non-acute hospitals for services. No such arrangement, including but not limited to prices or charges which may be charged for non-contracted services or which may be negotiated in individual contracts between such purchasers or third party payers and such acute or non-acute hospitals, shall be subject to prior approval by any public agency; provided, however, that nothing in this section or chapter shall limit the authority of the executive office to establish rates of payment for all health care services adjudged compensable under chapter one hundred fifty-two, and provided, further, that charges established by an acute or non-acute hospital for health care services rendered shall be uniform for all patients receiving comparable services.

Any acute or non-acute hospital that makes a charge or accepts payment based upon a charge in excess of that filed required or approved by the executive office or that fails to file any data, statistics or schedules or other information required under this chapter or by any regulation promulgated by the division or executive office or which falsifies the same, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each day on which such violation occurs or continues, which penalty may be assessed in an action brought on behalf of the commonwealth in any court of competent jurisdiction. The attorney general shall bring any appropriate action, including injunctive relief, as may be necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter.