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AHS official urges tightening of hospital 'service reduction' law, calls for clearer timing and definitions
Summary
Jill Mazza Olsen, Medicaid and health systems director at the Agency of Human Services, told a legislative committee that S.189 — which governs how hospitals notify the state and public about planned service cuts — needs clearer language limited to intentional eliminations, defined service categories, and fixes to timing for public engagement and analysis.
Jill Mazza Olsen, Medicaid and health systems director for the Agency of Human Services (AHS), told a legislative committee the bill S.189, which governs how hospitals must notify state agencies and the public of proposed service reductions or eliminations, should be tightened to focus on intentional eliminations and to clarify timing for public engagement and analysis.
Mazza Olsen said AHS is "pretty supportive" of the bill’s overall goals but warned the statute passed last year left language that could be interpreted too broadly. "There was confusion in the language that was passed last year," she said, adding that the statute should be narrowed so it applies to services hospitals are "intentionally eliminating," not every incidental dip in capacity.
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