Suddenly, Massachusetts is a Battleground State for Urgent Care Legislative Issues

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) and the North East Regional Urgent Care Association (NERUCA) have stepped up their joint efforts to lobby against proposed legislation in Massachusetts that it says would wreak havoc not only on urgent care operators, but the entire state healthcare system. No longer content to simply urge interested parties to contact their legislators to make their feelings about the legislation known, both groups have gone a step further by staging a Massachusetts “lobby day,” during which personal visits were made to 10 legislative offices; information was left with two other offices; an in-depth meeting was held with representatives of the Massachusetts Medical Society to review NERUCA’s and UCA’s concerns; and a joint NERUCA-UCA Position Statement was delivered to all legislative offices. The Convenient Care Association (CCA) is on board, as well, along with Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Retailers Association of Massachusetts, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. CCA Executive Director Tine Hansen-Turton issued a statement saying the proposed new 8.75% tax on services rendered in urgent care centers (and other select settings) “would exacerbate the Commonwealth’s healthcare access problems and make healthcare services more costly by adding millions of dollars in new expenses to be borne by consumers, walk-in health clinics, employers, and payers.”