Massachusetts SD 3916: Long-Term Care Facility Quality Improvement Fund FY22 Annual Report

Bill Text

Maura T. Healey 
Governor 
Kimberley Driscoll 
Lieutenant Governor  
Kiame Mahaniah, MD, MBA 
Secretary 
Robert Goldstein, MD, PhD 
Commissioner
 
 
February 4, 2025 
 
Sen. Patricia D. Jehlen     Rep. Thomas M. Stanley 
Joint Committee on Aging and Independence  Joint Committee on Aging and Independence 
State House, Room 424    State House, Room 167 
Boston, MA 02133     Boston, MA 02133 
 
Sen. Michael J. Rodrigues    Rep. Aaron M. Michlewitz 
Senate Committee on Ways & Means  House Committee on Ways & Means 
State House, Room 212    State House, Room 243 
Boston, MA 02133     Boston, MA 02133 
 
 
Dear Chairs, 
 
Pursuant to Section 2UUUU of Chapter 29 of the Massachusetts General Laws, please find 
enclosed a report from the Department of Public Health entitled Long-Term Care Facility 
Quality Improvement Fund Annual Report FY22. 
 
 
Sincerely, 
 
 
 
Robert H. Goldstein, MD, PhD 
Commissioner 
Department of Public Health 
 
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
Executive Office of Health and Human Services 
Department of Public Health 
250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108-4619 
617-624-6000 | mass.gov/dph 
 

 
 
Long-Term Care Facility Quality 
Improvement Fund Annual Report 
2022 Annual Report 
 
Legislative Mandate 
 
This report is issued pursuant to Section 2UUUU of Chapter 29 of the Massachusetts General 
Laws (“M.G.L.”) which reads as follows:  
 
There shall be a Long-Term Care Facility Quality Improvement Fund. The commissioner 
of public health shall administer the fund and shall make expenditures from the fund for 
measures to improve the safety and quality of care provided in long-term care facilities 
including, but not limited to: (i) staff training and education; (ii) technical assistance to 
implement best practices; (iii) dissemination of best practice models on quality of care; 
(iv) state operation of facilities pending correction of deficiencies or closure; (v) costs of 
relocating residents from 1 facility to another; and (vi) funding to support adequate 
department resources to inspect facilities under state and federal law. 
 
The fund shall consist of: (i) revenue generated from fines and penalties imposed by the 
department on long-term care facilities under section 73 of chapter 111; (ii) revenue 
from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically 
designated to be credited to the fund; and (iii) funds from public or private sources 
including, but not limited to, gifts, grants, donations, rebates and settlements received by 
the commonwealth that are specifically designated to be credited to the fund. The 
department may incur expenses and the comptroller may certify for payment amounts in 
anticipation of expected receipts; provided, however, that no expenditure shall be made 
from the fund that shall cause the fund to be deficient at the close of a fiscal year. 
Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and money 
remaining in the fund at the close of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. 
The commissioner shall report annually, not later than October 1, on the fund's activity 
to the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on elder affairs and the house and 
senate committees on ways and means. The report shall include, but not be limited to: (1) 
revenue received by the fund; and (2) expenditures from the fund, including the recipient, 
date and reason for the expenditure. 
 

 
Annual Report for the Long-Term Facility Quality Improvement Fund (the “Fund”) 
 
This annual report provides the revenue received by, and expenditures from, the Fund during 
state fiscal year (“FY”) 2022, which runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 (“FY22”). 
Revenue for the Fund is primarily generated by fines and penalties imposed pursuant to M.G.L. 
c. 111, § 73 and funds from settlements with long-term care facilities received by the Office of 
Attorney General. Section 73 authorizes the Department to impose fines and penalties on long-
term care facilities that operate unlicensed or otherwise violate any provision of M.G.L. c. 111, 
§§ 71 through 73 or any rule or regulation promulgated under M.G.L. c. 111, §§ 71, 72, and 72C.  
 
During FY22, M.G.L. c. 111, § 73 authorized the Department to impose an initial fine of $500 
dollars on a long-term care facility that operates without a license, or who licensed, violates a 
statutory requirement under sections 71 through 73. For subsequent violations, the Department is 
authorized to impose a fine of not more than $1,000. The Department is further authorized to 
impose an initial fine of $50 on a long-term care facility that is found to have violated any rule or 
regulation promulgated under sections 71, 72, and 72C and $50 per day for each day the cited 
violation remains uncorrected after the date directed by the Department.  
 
The chart below documents the balance of the Fund at the beginning and end of FY22, as well as 
the amounts received into