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| FHS Boys Hockey Mask Fundraiser through Dec 31, 2020 |
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| Franklin Food Pantry distributes holiday meals |
Today (12/23/20), Senate President Karen E. Spilka and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, along with their colleagues in the Legislature, voted to pass An Act promoting a resilient health care system that puts patients first. This landmark legislation, which includes a number of notable health care reforms, expands patient access to care by lifting barriers to accessing telehealth services, broadens the scope of practice for certain health care professionals, requires advance notice of a provider’s network status in order to avoid surprise medical bills and improves coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment amid the most serious public health crisis in modern history.
“This pandemic has brought an urgency to the need to make quality healthcare more accessible to all,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “By eliminating barriers to care, protecting patients from surprise billing practices, and advancing our state’s support for community hospitals, testing sites and medical staff, this comprehensive legislation will equip healthcare providers to truly put patients first. I am particularly happy that rate parity for telehealth services will remain a permanent option for Massachusetts patients – thereby expanding efficiency in care while reducing stress for everyone involved. I want to offer my thanks to Senator Friedman, Leader Mariano and their fellow conferees for their hard work, as well as Speaker DeLeo for his partnership in advancing these significant reforms."
“This legislation advances health care reform efforts backed by the House and brought into fine focus during to the COVID-19 pandemic including a permanent telehealth coverage mandate, protections for consumers from surprise medical bills and much needed financial assistance to our community hospitals on the frontlines of patient care,” said Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop). “These are comprehensive and necessary reforms that will strengthen the Massachusetts health care system. I am grateful to Leader Mariano, who has been instrumental in reforming health care in Massachusetts, including our landmark 2012 law, and my colleagues in the House for their work to advance this legislation, and thank Senate President Spilka and our colleagues in the Senate for their partnership.”
“This conference committee report embraces the best of both the Senate and House bills to create comprehensive and necessary healthcare reforms,” said Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. “While there is still more to do to improve patient outcomes and access to care, this bill takes a meaningful step forward by ensuring that the Commonwealth’s healthcare system can continue to meet the needs of patients during this unprecedented time, and long after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. I am grateful to the House for their collaboration and to Senate President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for their leadership and for giving me the opportunity and responsibility to help the Senate negotiate a resolution to this significant bill.”
“This legislation will help mitigate the current strain on the health care sector’s finances and workforce caused by the pandemic, while also ushering in a long-lasting transformation in the way people access health care services,” said Majority Leader Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy). “From guaranteeing telehealth coverage to expanding the practice authority of certain advanced practice nurses, this bill is an important step in our recovery.”
"The conference report continues to advance our goal of transforming mental health care access and delivery in Massachusetts," said State Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. "This legislation will do so much good, but particularly it will expand mental health care access for rural residents, people of color, working families, and young people.”
“I am proud to support COVID-19 relief for all citizens of our Commonwealth, and this legislation will remove barriers for patients and strengthen our health care infrastructure,” said Representative John Mahoney (D-Worcester), Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health.
“Our caucus has consistently worked to secure many of the key components of this bill, including expanded scopes of practice for health care providers, the deployment and maintenance of expansive telehealth services to serve patients efficiently and effectively without them having to leave home, and a greater role for pharmacists in the delivery of health care,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). “While these things have always been important, the global pandemic has stress - tested our health care system in a way that illustrates even more clearly the need to act on them.
The passage of the bill signals the strengthening of medical care in our Commonwealth for today and the future.”
“The legislation addresses several key factors in making health care more accessible and medical bills less surprising,” said Representative Randy Hunt (R-Sandwich). “Telehealth is here to stay and combined with expansion of practice responsibilities, more people in more places will receive quality medical care. I especially applaud mandatory coverage for PANS and PANDAS and my heart goes out to all of the families dealing with these devastating conditions.”
The bill’s components are highlighted below.
Telehealth
The bill makes telehealth permanently accessible to all in Massachusetts. From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, these services experienced a dramatic expansion, enabling patients across the state to continue receiving vital medical care through videoconference or phone without risking exposure to the coronavirus. The bill requires insurance carriers, including MassHealth, to cover telehealth services in any case where the same in-person service would be covered, and the use of telehealth is appropriate. This coverage mandate will give providers certainty and allow them to make investments that will expand geographic access, reduce delays in care, and improve both pre- and post-care treatment.
Under the bill, behavioral health treatment delivered via telehealth will be permanently reimbursed by insurers at the same rate as in-person services. A similar reimbursement structure will also be implemented for primary care and chronic disease management services delivered via telehealth for two years. All other telehealth care services will be reimbursed at the same rate as in-person services for the duration of the COVID-19 state of emergency, and 90 days after its expiration. Equalizing telehealth and in-person payment rates as the state emerges from the pandemic is critical to offering safe care options for patients, incentivizing continued expansion of services, and providing a financial lifeline for hospitals, doctors and community health centers that have shifted largely to telehealth services.
Since expanded use of telehealth has and will continue to affect the Commonwealth’s health care system in a variety of ways, the bill also includes an analysis of telehealth coverage and payment to inform future policy decisions.
Expanding Patient Access
Building on additional lessons learned during the pandemic, An Act promoting a resilient health care system that puts patients first authorizes several health care professionals to practice at the top of their license and training while reducing barriers to care and maintaining patient safety. The bill enables nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and psychiatric nurse mental health specialists to practice independently, provided that they meet certain education and training standards, and practice under physician supervision for at least two years. These standards are consistent with a March 10, 2020 Executive Order that expanded this same practice authority to advanced-practice registered nurses during the COVID-19 emergency.
In addition, the bill allows Massachusetts optometrists to treat glaucoma and recognizes pharmacists as health care providers, enabling them to integrate more fully into coordinated care teams and work with patients to review medications to ensure medication adherence and identify areas for care improvement.
COVID-19 Testing and Treatment
As the pandemic continues, it is crucial to ensure that COVID-19 testing and treatment services are as widely accessible as possible. To that end, this bill ensures that critical services related to treatment of COVID-19 would be covered by insurance carriers, including MassHealth, at no cost to consumers. These services include COVID-19-related emergency, inpatient and cognitive rehabilitation services, including all professional, diagnostic and laboratory services at both in-network and out-of-network providers. This bill also requires coverage for medically necessary outpatient COVID-19 testing, including testing for asymptomatic individuals, under circumstances to be defined by guidelines established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services within 30 days of the effective date of this bill.
Surprise Billing
The bill increases protections for patients against the unfair practice of surprise medical billing. In the short term, the bill immediately institutes requirements for health care providers and insurance carriers to notify patients of a health care provider’s network status before a non-emergency procedure occurs. The patient can thereby avoid a surprise medical bill and make an informed decision about where to seek care. In the long term, this bill tasks the Secretary of Health and Human Services—in consultation with the Health Policy Commission, the Center for Health Information and Analysis and the Division of Insurance—to develop a report by September 1, 2021 that makes recommendations on establishing a fair and sustainable out-of-network rate to resolve the costs of uncovered care.
Improving Future Care
To understand the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on health care accessibility, quality and fiscal sustainability and the implications of those effects on long-term policy considerations, the bill directs the Health Policy Commission and the Center for Health Information and Analysis to analyze and report on the state of the Commonwealth’s health care delivery system amid COVID-19. The analysis will include an inventory of all health care services and resources serving Massachusetts residents from birth to death, as well as an analysis of existing health care disparities due to economic, geographic, racial or other factors.
Other notable reforms in An Act promoting a resilient health care system that puts patients first include:
- Requiring insurance carriers to cover pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndromes (PANS) and establishing a PANDAS/PANS Advisory Council within the Department of Public Health;
- Providing assistance by authorizing enhanced monthly Medicaid payments for certain community hospitals for two years to help mitigate the unprecedented financial challenges community hospitals continue to face during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Eliminating a barrier to participation in cancer clinical trials by allowing reimbursement for a cancer patient’s reasonable travel and accommodation expenses associated with participating in a cancer clinical trial;
- Eliminating a barrier to access urgent care services for low-income residents by ending the requirement that MassHealth patients first obtain a referral from a primary care provider before seeking care at an urgent care facility, while also ensuring that urgent care facilities and MassHealth assist patients with the process of designating a primary care provider;
- Establishing a Rare Disease Advisory Council to advise the Governor, the Legislature and the Department of Public Health on the incidence of rare disease in the Commonwealth and the status of the rare disease community; and
- Ensuring that a registered nurse with demonstrated expertise in the development and utilization of innovative treatments for patient care is a member of the Health Policy Commission’s board.
The bill now goes to the Governor.
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| Legislature Passes Comprehensive Health Care Legislation Amid Pandemic |
"IM and social media accounts feel less open to spammers and scammers than email - until a crook gets into a friend's account and sends from there..."
"Massachusetts public safety officials have halted use of a controversial license plate surveillance system on roadways across the state after finding a glitch with the technology that caused it to record inaccurate data for more than five years, according to a memo obtained by the Globe.
The inaccuracies were found within a network of high-speed cameras installed by the State Police that automatically photograph the license plates of passing vehicles. The data, including location, date, and time, is compiled in a massive database and used for criminal investigations and even finding suspects in real time — all without obtaining warrants or court orders.
The breadth of the newfound problem — and the impact it will have on an untold number of criminal cases — was not immediately clear Wednesday."
A Christmas Carol Online = Unlimited free streaming through Jan. 10
Trinity Rep's A Christmas Carol Online is now streaming for free. Simply register at the links below for your access link. Watch as many times as you want and on your schedule!
"The results offer delightful contrasts — traditional yet trendy, spooky yet warm, edgy yet endearing — that will prove appealing to audiences of all ages...streaming for free through Jan. 10, is a show for the ages, brimming with the creativity and innovation Trinity audiences have missed for months... - Providence Journal
"...bringing invention and tradition together in a celebration of innovative spirit and holiday cheer...In a year when we have lost so much and so many, Trinity Rep's A CHRISTMAS CAROL ONLINE is an inspired holiday transformation that - much like Scrooge's own - feels nothing short of a Christmas miracle." - Broadway World
For detailed information about viewing the show, including tips for technical set up, view our FAQ page https://www.trinityrep.com/box-office/how-to-watch-faqs/
Check out our Viewer Guide to read more about the show and artists, and get family activities, games, and recipes https://www.trinityrep.com/app/uploads/2020/12/ACC-viewer-guide-2020.pdf
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A Christmas Carol Online = Unlimited free streaming through Jan. 10 |
"Travel bans are an overly simplistic solution to new variants with potentially new properties & reflect a superficial understanding of viral mutation. They are also a missed opportunity to educate people with more nuance. My latest for the @guardian."https://twitter.com/angie_rasmussen/status/1341773116549132300
"We can probably expect to see other variants that may be more effective at spreading, causing disease or circumventing our immune responses. We must be prepared to respond in an informed and thoughtful way, rather than reactively. Unfortunately, because Sars-CoV-2 is spreading so widely, the virus has many opportunities to develop mutations that give it a competitive advantage. The only way to stop the virus from mutating is to take away its ability to replicate, which means drastically reducing community transmission.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/23/travel-bans-effective-new-covid-variant
Mutations do not automatically make a virus a more exceptional pathogen. The advantages conferred by positively selected viral mutations are good for the virus, but aren’t necessarily always bad for the human host. Many mutations can make the virus better at infecting cells, replicating, or transmitting to new hosts, but will have no effect on the severity or type of disease that they cause. In the case of B.1.1.7, there is fortunately no indication that the 23 mutations distinguishing the variant result in more severe Covid-19"
All Commuter Rail lines will continue to operate on the Reduced Service Schedule on weekdays through Friday, January 8th, due to Covid-19 impact in communities and in the workforce. Weekend trains will operate on regular schedule.
Reduced Service Schedule is available from MBTA.com/cr and at South Station, North Station and Back Bay.
Bikes will be allowed on board all trains.
We will be reviewing staff numbers on a weekly basis to determine when we can be confident of being able to restore the full service.
Last Updated: Dec 23 2020 12:09 PM
"Commuter Rail lines will continue to operate on the Reduced Service Schedule"
The wfpr.fm Franklin Matters Radio schedule for this week 12/23/20:
On Saturday both shows replay
And if you can't make the radio schedule, the podcast (on-demand) version is available
Town Council "quarterbacking" = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/fm-420-town-council-quarterbacking.html
"Talk Franklin" = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/fm-419-talk-franklin-121820-audio.html
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| wfpr.fm: Franklin Matters Radio show schedule |
FM #421 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 421 in the series.
This shares my conversation withTown of Franklin, MA Health Director Cathleen Liberty. We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the social distancing requirements of this pandemic period.
In this session we talk about:
Our conversation runs about 35 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HB80Cd9S
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Town of Franklin Health Dept page https://www.franklinma.gov/health-department
If you have a question, you can call the Health Dept at (508) 520-4905
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Town of Franklin Health Director Cathleen Liberty |
"The Massachusetts House on Tuesday approved a revised version of a sweeping policing bill, making it all but certain the state will soon enact legislation that emerged after protests over police misconduct and the death of George Floyd gripped Massachusetts and beyond.
The legislation would create for the first time a system for certifying police officers in Massachusetts and give a new civilian-led panel the ability to revoke their licenses for a range of misconduct.
A raft of revisions sought by Governor Charlie Baker, and ultimately accepted by lawmakers in both the House and Senate, included loosening proposed limits on the use of facial recognition and eliminating language that underpinned new standards on officers’ use of force. Baker also successfully pushed to keep oversight of training under his administration and police-dominated committee."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/22/metro/house-accepts-revised-police-accountability-bill-putting-it-verge-becoming-law/
THE LEGISLATURE sent bills dealing with police reform and abortion back to Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday and began work on compromise health care legislation that requires insurers to permanently reimburse for behavioral telehealth at the rates they’d pay for the same care in-person.Continue reading the article online https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health-care/lawmakers-send-police-reform-abortion-measures-to-governor/
The House joined the Senate in passing police reform legislation that includes amendments sought by Baker on police training and the use of facial recognition software. Baker, who had threatened a veto if the Legislature declined to compromise on those two issues, has indicated he will sign the bill containing the modified language into law.
On abortion, however, both branches rejected amendments sought by the governor and sent the bill back to him as originally drafted. Baker can sign the abortion measure into law, allow it to become law without his signature, or veto the bill and challenge the Legislature to override him. An override would require a two-thirds vote, which was the margin on earlier abortion votes in the House but just barely.
"A week before Thanksgiving, a small group of moderate senators gathered in the spacious living room of Senator Lisa Murkowski’s home on Capitol Hill to embark on what they considered an urgent assignment.Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
They were there — eating Tuscan takeout as they sat socially distanced, with the windows open to let the cold air circulate as a coronavirus precaution — to talk about how to get the Senate, polarized and paralyzed on nearly every issue, working again.
They were also determined to find a way to deliver a more immediate kind of relief, brainstorming how to break a monthslong partisan stalemate over providing a new round of federal aid to millions of Americans and businesses buckling under the economic weight of the coronavirus pandemic."
The ECDC December Newsletter is now posted!
You can view it here: https://t.co/30K2YTYarx
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| The ECDC December Newsletter is now posted |
"Not the normal amount of games but so grateful to have what we have. Our 2020-2021 Varsity hockey schedule! @PanthersJvPuck @FHSSports @MassHSHockey @HNIBonline"Schedule image: https://t.co/czU8DRZBdw
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| FHS Panther Hockey: Schedule for Winter Season 2020-2021 |
Joe Landry provides this video about the history of Franklin, MA from 1880 to 1889.
Direct video link: https://youtu.be/KHNGUCBBDjU
"Earlier this month, the book industry website Publishers Marketplace announced that Little, Brown would be publishing “Re-Entry,” a novel by James Hannaham about a transgender woman paroled from a men’s prison. The book would be edited by Ben George.
Two days later, Mr. Hannaham got an email from Mr. George, asking him to send the latest draft of his manuscript. The email came to an address on Mr. Hannaham’s website that he rarely uses, so he opened up his usual account, attached the document, typed in Mr. George’s email address and a little note, and hit send.
“Then Ben called me,” Mr. Hannaham said, “to say, ‘That wasn’t me.’”
"A series of abusive text messages sent to an Al Jazeera investigative programme were the first crumbs that eventually led to the discovery of an unprecedented hacking operation against dozens of staff from the Qatar-based media network, according to one of the journalists who was targeted.
Researchers at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto claimed on Sunday that the UAE and Saudi Arabia used spyware sold by an Israeli private intelligence company to access the phones of at least 36 journalists, producers and executives from Al Jazeera, as well as that of a London-based reporter with the Al Araby network.
Traces of the cyber-attack were unearthed in July when a phone used by an Al Jazeera programme, The Tip of the Iceberg, exhibited suspicious network activity that was undetectable to its users."
"The Russian hackers who penetrated United States government agencies broke into the email system used by the Treasury Department’s most senior leadership, a Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee said on Monday, the first detail of how deeply Moscow burrowed into the Trump administration’s networks.
In a statement after a briefing for committee staff members, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who has often been among the sharpest critics of the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies, said that the Treasury Department had acknowledged that “the agency suffered a serious breach, beginning in July, the full depth of which isn’t known.”
"President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. accused President Trump on Tuesday of “irrational downplaying” of the widespread hack of the federal government and American industries, saying that the current administration was denying him intelligence and warning Russia that he would not allow the intrusion to “go unanswered” after he takes office.
“This assault happened on Donald Trump’s watch when he wasn’t watching,” Mr. Biden said at a news conference in Delaware. “It is still his responsibility as president to defend American interests for the next four weeks, but rest assured that even if he does not take it seriously, I will.”
The direct critique was a remarkable departure from tradition, in which incoming presidents are careful about not second-guessing the actions of the incumbent. But Mr. Trump’s refusal to recognize Mr. Biden’s election victory, and his effort to subvert the results, has clearly poisoned elements of the transition process."
"Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday announced the toughest set of coronavirus-related restrictions since June, clamping down on the number of people allowed inside restaurants, groceries, and other public gathering spots in an attempt to stave off another holiday surge.
Capacity limits for most businesses will be lowered to 25 percent beginning Saturday and will remain restricted for at least two weeks, Baker said, prompting pushback from some who said companies may not survive another hit to their bottom lines."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/22/metro/gov-baker-announces-new-temporary-restrictions-gatherings-businesses/
Gov Baker's press conference video https://youtu.be/2TaRgI-x-z0
Additional info can be found on the COVID-19 page https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-updates-and-information
