Latest on Healthcare in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has long been one of the more aggressive states when it comes to creative Medicaid financing. Well, the federal government just put a stop to one of the biggest tools in that toolbox, and the effects here in the Commonwealth could be significant. On April 3rd, 2026 — this past Thursday — a major new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially went into effect. The rule, called the “Preserving Medicaid Funding for Vulnerable Populations – Closing a Health Care-Related Tax Loophole” final rule, targets a specific financing mechanism in which seven states imposed higher taxes on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) than on commercial plans, in order to trigger larger federal matching dollars. Massachusetts is one of those seven states. So what exactly was the “loophole”? To understand this, you have to understand how Medicaid funding works at a basic level. Under federal law, states are allowed to levy taxes on their providers — includin...

Nursing homes transports have always been a staple of private EMS providers in Massachusetts. Now with rate cuts the lack of working EMTs (has always been an issue) and the larger companies snatching up new resource intensive contracts, the nursing homes are left out as the undesirables now. Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities patients as well as home dialysis patients are steadily having a harder and harder time finding transportation, a sharp change that has seen large scale effects within the last few years especially. In 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act, saw EMS companies looking for new opportunities in revenue as ESRD patient reimbursements got cut. While Covid19 sent many business across the country into survival mode as they began loosing money at an alarming pace, EMS companies across Massachusetts found themselves flush with cash as the opportunity to make greater money with a lower call volume presented itself to those business that were able to adapt quickly and tha...

 Just like the in-house flu shots provided by their employers, Emts and paramedics, will be getting their Coronavirus vaccinations through their employer. Many ambulance companies tend to bring in outside providers into the garages to help encourage their employees to get the vaccine.  CVS and Walgreens techs are also expected to be some of those who will be administering the vaccination to the crews. Public and Private EMS workers will be eligible to receive the vaccine. The cost is free. Many EMS workers were against receiving the vaccination, seems to be less resistance to vaccinating now also it is unclear what companies are now requiring the vaccination as must, to working receive hours. The only question about this now is which employees will be getting which vaccinations they will be receiving and if some EMTs will receive one vaccination while their partner may receive the other how that may effect partners being allowed to work together in the overlap of second dose a...

1 . We usually always know which nursing homes and rehabs are good and which ones are not. However; just because we know though, does not mean we will always tell you.  We have are jobs on the line of we bad mouth places we service or our company has an interest in. We will usually only tell people we trust or if we are really connecting well with a patient prior to them going to a facility. Between the nursing staff we meet, the patients we take out of those facilities, the way they talk to and care for patients, we see a huge part of what goes on at care facilities. All of us know where we would and would not want someone we care about going if they needed time at a care facility. 2 . We know which hospital would be better for you in an emergency and it is not always the closest. A lot of people when they need an ambulance feel like they know which hospital that they want to go to. For most cases, the hospital that your care provider is affiliated or where you are having...