Dear friends,
I am writing to you today with legislative, public health, and Cambridge updates.
In case you missed it: I am hosting my annual Diaper Drive winter celebration a week from tomorrow on Saturday, December 14, from 10-11:30am at Raymond Park (106 Raymond Street). We will have hot cocoa, donuts, and cookie decorating. Kids are welcome, so please bring your family!
This is an opportunity to come by to say hello and to connect in person on legislative updates or constituent concerns. If you can, please consider bringing a box of diapers that will be donated to the Cambridge Community Center and Transition House. I look forward to seeing you there!
Table of Contents
Legislative Updates
Public Health Updates
Cambridge Updates
A Glimpse at the Past Week
Services and Resources
Legislative Updates
Changes to MassHealth Coverage for Maternal Health Services
MassHealth recently moved forward to implement policy changes based on the maternal health omnibus bill I authored, An Act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options, which was signed into law in August. The bill included provisions for MassHealth coverage of doula services and non-invasive prenatal screening through Cell-Free DNA testing for birthing people.
MassHealth has updated its policy by removing the prior authorization requirement for the specific code related to cell-free fetal DNA tests (e.g., trisomy 21, monosomy X). As a result of this change, the medical necessity guidelines are no longer applicable. Additionally, MassHealth has expanded access to its doula services program by removing the "billing restriction" on doulas, allowing them to be eligible for MassHealth reimbursement at non-doula group practices, doula group practices, and hospitals. Furthermore, doula services will also be covered by MassHealth for adoptive parents until their infant turns one year old.
I am glad that MassHealth has implemented these important regulatory changes in response to the new maternal healthcare law. These changes represent a significant step forward in ensuring that birthing people receive comprehensive and equitable healthcare.
Public Health Updates
New HIV Prevention Shot is More Effective than Oral PrEP
A new injection has achieved 96% HIV prevention efficacy in a recent clinical trial, significantly exceeding the efficacy of oral PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). PrEP is an antiretroviral medication that reduces the chances of acquiring HIV from sex or injection drug use. Oral PrEP is very effective in preventing HIV, but only when taken daily. The medication is also available in an injectable form but must be administered by a healthcare provider every other month. The new injection, lenacapavir, only has to be administered twice annually and was shown to be 100% effective in preventing HIV in a study of cisgender women. Recently published results also show that the drug worked almost as well in men. Lenacapavir is currently sold in the U.S., Canada, and Europe under the brand name Sunlenca to treat HIV infections. However, the new clinical results are promising for the drug’s use in HIV prevention. The drug’s developer, Gilead, has stated that it will allow inexpensive, generic versions of the injection to be sold in 120 low-income countries with high rates of HIV - mainly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
Federal Health Officials Investigate Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Cucumbers Sold Throughout U.S.
A salmonella outbreak linked to whole cucumbers has led to the hospitalization of eighteen people, with sixty-eight more sickened. Affected cucumbers were distributed in twenty-six states, including Massachusetts and parts of Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on November 29 that cucumbers grown by Agrotato, S.A. de C.V. in Sonora, Mexico, including cucumbers from SunFed Produce LLC may be contaminated according to epidemiologic and traceback information. Last Thursday, Sunfed Produce LLC announced in a company recall notice published on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website that the affected cucumbers were sold between October 12 and November 26 in various containers: bulk cardboard boxes bearing the Sunfed label, in generic white boxes, or black plastic crates with stickers naming Sunfed.
Rural Hospitals Throughout U.S. are Discontinuing Obstetric Care
A recent study from the University of Minnesota has found that 52% of rural hospitals in the U.S. had closed their maternity wards by 2022. Comparatively, only 36% of urban hospitals no longer had any maternity ward. The research team analyzed data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to monitor changes in obstetric status at 4,964 acute-care hospitals between 2010 and 2022. Of the hospitals studied, 1,982 were located in rural counties, and 2,982 were located in urban counties. In total, 537 hospitals suspended obstetric care — 299 closed in urban areas while 238 closed in rural areas. Conversely, 112 urban and 26 rural hospitals added obstetric care between 2010 and 2022, totaling 138 hospitals across the nation that added access to obstetric care.
Research finds 30% of U.S. Pharmacies Operating in the Last Decade Have Closed
A new study found that nearly 30%, equivalent to 26,000, of the 89,000 U.S. drug stores operating during the last decade closed by 2021. This unprecedented level of pharmacy closure began in 2018, primarily driven by chain pharmacies closing due to industry consolidation and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) integration with chain pharmacies. Drug store consolidation and vertical PBM integration within national retail pharmacy chains, such as CVS, also accelerated the closure of independently owned pharmacies, which are twice as likely to close as chain stores due to being excluded from PBM’s preferred pharmacy networks more often than not. Researchers also identified disparities in areas experiencing pharmacy closures, with predominantly low-income, Black, and Latino neighborhoods facing higher rates of pharmacy closure than predominantly white neighborhoods. Rates of pharmacy closures in Black and Latino neighborhoods were 38% and 36%, respectively, compared to 28% in white neighborhoods.
Study Shows Maintaining Muscle May Prevent Dementia in Older Adults
New research indicates that maintaining muscle may be one method to prevent dementia. The research was presented at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago and focused on the temporalis muscle, which helps to move the jaw, to determine how brain health is impacted by muscle loss. Reductions in temporalis muscle size have historically been reflective of skeletal muscle loss throughout the rest of the body. Skeletal muscles connect to bones and comprise 30 to 40% of a person’s total body mass. Researchers analyzed the brain scans of 619 people without dementia with an average age of 77 years to determine the size of each participant’s temporalis muscle. The size of the temporalis muscles then served as an indicator of the study participants’ general skeletal muscle size.
Cambridge Updates
Kids Only! Holiday Sale at the Maria Baldwin Community Center
The Maria L. Baldwin Community Center (MLBCC) is hosting its annual Kids Only! Holiday Sale next week. This event, started in 1986, provides young people the opportunity to shop and purchase gifts for family and friends in a safe and supportive environment. While the event is for young people under 18, very young children (under 6) can invite an adult to accompany them.
The proceeds support the Equity and Access Scholarship Initiative, which provides funding that enables folks to participate in MLBCC programs.
MassDOT Name a Plow Contest
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is hosting a contest for classrooms to participate in naming a snowplow this winter season. As we saw from the brief flurry yesterday, winter is coming!
Up to 12 snowplow names will be selected statewide, two in each of the 6 highway districts. Each winning name will be affixed to a snowplow. Winners will be announced on December 20th, and each winning classroom will receive a $100 gift card for school supplies! Teachers — join this fun competition by submitting a snowplow name here by December 13th.
DCR Traffic Advisory for Memorial Drive Improvements
From Monday, December 2, through Monday, December 23 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) will intermittently close lanes and implement detours along Memorial Drive from Magazine Street to Audrey Street via the BU Bridge rotary to accommodate more than $1.5 million in safety upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists.
The safety improvement work includes widening the shared use path leading to the BU rotary; improving and reconfiguring wheelchair ramps and median islands at the intersection of Memorial Drive and the BU Bridge; replacing nearly 700 linear feet of existing Boston Pattern Fence; restriping the crosswalks; and implementing a speed limit reduction to 25 mph along the BU Bridge corridor. Traffic patterns will be clearly marked, and a police detail will be on site. More information on the work can be found here.
A Glimpse at the Past Week
As we gear up for the next legislative session, we both continue to work on bills that are still in play and prepare for new legislation. Part of our preparations are meetings to talk about priority bills. On Monday, I met with advocates from the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH), Neighborhood Birth Center (NBC), and the Mind the Gap Coalition to discuss the bills I filed with them this session and plan for next session.
With MAMH, we discussed building off of our successes from Chapter 177 of the Acts of 2022 which reformed the behavioral health landscape, leaving Massachusetts as a model for the country. I worked closely with MAMH to include comprehensive language to improve school-based behavioral health, create the 988 hotline, and end suspensions and expulsions for students in early education settings. I will continue to prioritize mental health and behavioral health support in the next session, including by filing an important bill that would end step therapy for mental health prescriptions.
With the NBC, we again celebrated the passage of the landmark maternal health omnibus this session. The Neighborhood Birth Center was among the advocates who helped shape the Special Legislative Commission Addressing Racial Inequities in Maternal Health report from last session, and I worked for the last three years to turn that report into legislation. Next session we will build on the important work, and continue to look at how to expand access to maternal healthcare services.
It was great to have a conversation with the Mind the Gap Coalition, including the Mass PPD Fund, which was essential in ensuring maternal mental health was prioritized in the maternal health omnibus, specifically to increase resources and improve access to services for new parents facing postpartum depression and other perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. I look forward to continuing to work with them next session to ensure comprehensive support for birthing people before, during, and after birth.
Finally, we continue working on legislation addressing the detrimental effects of step therapy, also known as a ‘fail first’ policy, which will ensure patients and their doctors, not insurance companies, can make decisions about what medications are best for them. I’m proud of the bill I passed alongside Representatives Jeff Roy and John Lawn a few sessions ago that prohibited step therapy for medications surrounding physical health, but there is still work to be done to stop bifurcating physical and mental health to ensure people have access to the treatments for mental health diagnoses that they and their doctors decide are the best fit.
I participated in a panel organized by the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum to discuss harm reduction legislation in Massachusetts and provide updates about the substance use disorder omnibus package currently in Conference Committee. I also discussed the Forum’s recent report outlining recommendations to increase access to harm reduction services, many of which are included in the House’s version of the SUD omnibus. This critical piece of legislation demonstrates the Legislature’s, and especially the House’s, steadfast commitment to addressing the opioid crisis and supporting individuals and communities impacted by substance use disorders.
I also spoke about a bill I filed with Representative Dylan Fernandes and Senator Julian Cyr that would create an overdose prevention center (OPC) pilot program and include civil and criminal protections for staff, clients, and operators. OPCs are an evidence-based harm reduction initiative that save lives and connect people who use drugs to essential social and medical services.
Thank you to the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum for inviting me to be on an impressive and knowledgeable panel of substance use, public health, and harm reduction experts — including Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, Pedro Alverez, Director of Harm Reduction Operations at Tapestry Health, and Dr. Sarah Wakeman, Senior Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder at Mass General Brigham. A special thank you to Martha Bebinger of WBUR for moderating and to the Brandeis Heller School for hosting this event.
On Tuesday, while I was participating in the Health Policy Forum panel, my staff attended the bill signing of the climate omnibus bill. I am grateful that the Governor signed this important bill into law.
As a reminder, this bill reforms the permitting and siting processes in Massachusetts to meet its net-zero goals. It outlines the process for clean energy infrastructure identification and incorporates various elements to provide better outcomes for communities, utilities, and clean energy companies. It also requires labor standards be included on clean energy projects, ensuring that a transition to green energy will also offer family-sustaining jobs.
At the event, my staff also saw incredible advocates from the Cambridge Chapter of Mothers Out Front (pictured) and other environmental organizations. I am so thankful for the tireless advocacy of everyone who helped bring the bill across the finish line. Thank you for your dedication to stewarding a sustainable planet that we can proudly pass on to the next generation. I will continue to join you in that fight, and look forward to even more progress next session.
Tuesday night, I joined local small business owners and members of the Harvard Square Business Association in the beautiful Galante Design Studio pop-up gallery to celebrate 2024 and the holiday season. I encourage everyone to shop local this holiday season, and support our small businesses in Harvard Square and beyond!
I had the honor and privilege of attending the annual Gold Star Families tree lighting on Wednesday with my mom, Cathy. It’s always a day with mixed emotions when my mom and I honor my dad and every service person of the armed forces who lost their life in combat or combat-related illness and injury. My dad was 17 when he was drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam, first in 1965, then again in 1967. What he experienced was traumatic physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and he died 12 years ago due to 100% service-related injuries. Thank you to Governor Healey and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jon Santiago for remembering the lives and courage of those who are loved and missed every day.
On Thursday, I attended the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association's (MHA) Annual Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference. It was great to hear from many passionate leaders and professionals in the healthcare sector who are committed to driving meaningful change and advancing health outcomes, including Valerie Fleishman, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of MHA, Christine Schuster, President & CEO of Emerson Health, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, Associate Professor at Harvard University, and Dr. Lisa Larkin, President of the North American Menopause Society.
Throughout the conference, we heard insightful discussions and panel sessions covering various topics, including leadership development for women, advancing menopause care, and the importance of mentorship and collaboration in fostering growth within the healthcare landscape.
Thank you to MHA for hosting such an important event that emphasized the significance of women’s empowerment in healthcare. It is essential to cultivate spaces that reflect the true nature of success as we continue to work towards a more equitable and supportive environment for women.
Cambridge Public Health Helpline Supports Residents with COVID-19
To speak with someone, call the confidential COVID-19 Hotline at 617-933-0797. Learn more here.
Intimate Partner Abuse Prevention Helpline
This initiative is designed to prevent intimate partner violence by fostering accountability and change in people who harm or may harm their partner. You can find more information at 10to10helpline.org or by calling 877-898-3411.
SafeSpot Overdose Prevention Helpline
SafeSpot is a virtual spotting/overdose detection service for people who use drugs. Learn more at safe-spot.me or access it by calling 800-972-0590.
De Novo Center for Justice and Healing
De Novo is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that provides free civil legal assistance and affordable psychological counseling to people with low incomes. You can learn more about their services at denovo.org.
MassLegalHelp.org is a resource to help Massachusetts residents learn about their legal rights. The website does not offer legal advice or answer individual questions but has a page about options for finding a lawyer. It does provide resources for those facing legal issues, such as a landlord refusing to make repairs, appealing the denial of SNAP benefits, and questions about getting a CORI sealed.
As always, please contact me with questions or concerns at Marjorie.Decker@mahouse.gov.
Sincerely,
Marjorie