Early vaccination in prisons, a public health priority, proves politically charged

Cindy Friedman

In Massachusetts, the priority given to incarcerated people stems from the broader focus on congregate settings, said Paul Biddinger, medical director for emergency preparedness at Mass General Brigham and chairman of the state’s vaccine advisory group.

“Congregate settings are congregate settings, and they are high density and at risk whether they’re long-term nursing facilities or prisons,” said another committee member, Massachusetts state Sen. Cindy Friedman (D). That inmates are in such dire need of inoculation, she said, shows the failures of criminal justice in America, revealing the “extent of the breakdown and the gaps and the poor access to behavioral health care.”

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Telemedicine Here To Stay In Massachusetts, Proponents Say

Cindy Friedman

In a year with few victories to celebrate, advocates for expanded health care in Massachusetts are pointing to at least one win: More access to remote health care, or “telehealth.”

Since early in the pandemic, health insurers have been required to cover telehealth visits as they would in-person care under emergency orders from Gov. Charlie Baker. On Wednesday, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a health care bill that makes that change permanent.

Massachusetts Sen. Cindy Friedman, a sponsor of the new measures, says the natural, if accidental, experiment created by the pandemic has proven the utility of telehealth for certain services, especially behavioral and mental health.

“Behavioral health just alone, no-shows, which used to be over 60%, for a whole host of reasons, all of a sudden that no-show rate (dropped) to something like 5%. Because people all of a sudden had access in a way that they could control,” the Middlesex Democrat said.

Friedman, who was pushing for the changes before the coronavirus pandemic hit, said the need for expanded telehealth is now irrefutable.

“There’s a time and a place,” Friedman said. “You can work on something for a very long time and not get traction, and then there’s an outside force that comes long that really crystalizes the need and the urgency of doing something.”

“We hit this pandemic, and it was clear where we had gaps in our health care system that we needed to address, immediately and for the long term,” she added.

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Fact Sheet: S.2984 – An Act promoting a resilient health care system that puts patients first

Cindy Friedman

The House and Senate have collaborated to produce a comprehensive healthcare bill that will benefit patients and our health care system as the Commonwealth continues to face the most serious public health crisis in modern history. This Act removes financial and insurance barriers to telehealth services, expands our healthcare workforce by eliminating certain practice restrictions for qualified nurses and other health professionals, provides financial assistance to community hospitals, improves coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment, enhances patient notification requirements to help avoid surprise medical bills, and makes several other notable reforms.

Click here to read the full fact sheet.

Friedman Joins Colleagues in Passing Comprehensive Health Care Legislation Amid Pandemic

Cindy Friedman

Mandates telehealth coverage, provides financial assistance to hospitals, and increases protections against surprise medical billing

BOSTON (12/23/2020) – On Wednesday, Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), joined her colleagues in the Legislature in voting to pass An Act promoting a resilient health care system that puts patients first. This landmark legislation, which includes a number of notable health care reforms, expands patient access to care by lifting barriers to receiving telehealth services, broadens the scope of practice for certain health care professionals, requires advance notice of a provider’s network status in order to avoid surprise medical bills and improves coverage for COVID-19 testing and treatment amid the most serious public health crisis in modern history.

“This conference committee report embraces the best of both the Senate and House bills to create comprehensive and necessary healthcare reforms,” said Senator Friedman, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. “While there is still more to do to improve patient outcomes and access to care, this bill takes a meaningful step forward by ensuring that the Commonwealth’s healthcare system can continue to meet the needs of patients during this unprecedented time, and long after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. I am grateful to the House for their collaboration and to Senate President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for their leadership and for giving me the opportunity and responsibility to help the Senate negotiate a resolution to this significant bill.”

The bill’s components are highlighted below.

Telehealth
The bill makes telehealth permanently accessible to all in Massachusetts.… Read more.

Massachusetts lawmakers reach deal on health care bill ensuring coverage for telehealth visits, COVID-19 treatment

Cindy Friedman

After nearly five months of closed-door negotiations, Massachusetts legislators have reached a deal on a health care package that requires insurance providers to cover telehealth appointments and a wider range of COVID-19 tests and treatment.

The lead negotiators, Sen. Cindy Friedman and Rep. Ron Mariano, confirmed in a statement Tuesday night they had made progress on the health care bill, two weeks before the end of the legislative session. The bill tackles a series of long-standing issues about telehealth coverage and scope of practice for nurse practitioners and optometrists, while expanding access to affordable COVID-19 treatment and testing, lawmakers say.

“I think we’ve shown that we’ve taken lessons learned and turned them into making our health care system better for everybody,” Friedman, an Arlington Democrat, said in an interview Tuesday night.

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Friedman Joins Colleagues to Pass Balanced Fiscal Year 2021 Budget

Cindy Friedman

Prioritizes relief to vulnerable populations through targeted investments in housing, economic development, and food security

BOSTON (12/04/2020) – Today, Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), along with her colleagues in the Senate and House, passed the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget, which invests in programs and services across the Commonwealth. Funded at $46.2 billion, the budget aims to address the sweeping effects of the global pandemic by making targeted investments in housing, food security, and substance use addiction services, as well as domestic violence, sexual assault treatment and prevention programs. The budget also invests in programs that provide COVID-related supports for students and increases funding for developmental services, early education and childcare, and public health.

“The current surge in positive COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts emphasizes that we must continue to do all we can to support our most vulnerable residents during these challenging times—and this budget helps to accomplish that by investing in much-needed behavioral health services, housing protections, reproductive health access, education and food assistance” said Friedman, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and member of the FY21 Budget Conference Committee. “I am extremely proud that we were able to keep crucial investments in place—the $46 billion will go a long way towards ensuring an equitable economic recovery for the Commonwealth. I am incredibly thankful to Senate President Spilka, Ways and Means Chair Rodrigues, and the rest of my colleagues in the legislature for their tireless work on behalf of the Commonwealth.”

Senator Friedman was especially pleased to see several local and statewide initiatives she advocated for throughout the budget cycle included in the final compromise budget, including:

  • $10 million for the creation of new inpatient mental health acute care beds, with priority given to beds for children and adolescents and beds located in underserved areas of the Commonwealth;
  • $950,000 for the Mental Health Advocacy Project (MHAP) for Kids, which provides evidence-based community- and school-based interventions to improve the mental health of vulnerable youth and divert them from juvenile detention, inpatient, and emergency psychiatric hospitalizations;
  • $350,000 to support the development of school-based Bridge programs, which integrate mental health, academic, family, and care coordination supports to address the needs of middle and high school students returning to school after physical health- or mental health-related absences;
  • $250,000 for the Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission, which seeks to establish a pilot center for the purpose of diverting individuals that suffer from mental illness or substance use disorder and have frequent interactions with the criminal justice system away from incarceration and into appropriate treatment;
  • $160,000 for the Arlington Youth Counseling Center (AYCC), ensuring that the Arlington Youth Counseling Center can continue to provide much-needed services to youth in the 4th Middlesex district; and
  • $90,000 to help English At Large in Woburn continue its work with English language tutoring and small group instruction for adult learners in 21 communities in Middlesex County.
… Read more.

Friedman Joins Colleagues in Passing Comprehensive Police Reform Legislation

Cindy Friedman

Bill includes provisions related to age- and developmentally-appropriate de-escalation tactics and a community policing and behavioral health advisory council.

BOSTON (12/1/2020) – Today, Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), along with her colleagues in the Senate and House, voted to pass An Act relative to justice, equity and accountability in law enforcement in the Commonwealth. The legislation represents the most comprehensive and intentional legislative response to incidents involving police practices in Massachusetts communities. It creates an independent, civilian-led commission to standardize the certification, training, and decertification of police officers, bans the use of chokeholds, limits the use of deadly force, creates a duty to intervene for police officers when witnessing another officer using force beyond what is necessary or reasonable under the circumstances, and takes steps to break the school-to-prison pipeline. It also creates a first-in-the-nation statewide moratorium on biometric surveillance systems, which include facial recognition technology.

“This legislation is a thoughtful and meaningful step in the right direction,” said Senator Friedman, Vice Chair of Senate Ways and Means. “We have a lot of work to do in Massachusetts and across the country to address systemic racism within our institutions and reforming how we police is part of that necessary work—but by no means should it represent the end of this important conversation. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to strengthen racial justice and equity across the Commonwealth.”

Friedman was especially proud to see provisions that she advocated for via the amendment process during the Senate bill debate were included in the final bill, including:

  • Ensuring that age- and developmentally-appropriate de-escalation techniques are used when police officers interact with minor children, and that the use of force in those instances is only a last resort and appropriate to the circumstances; and
  • Tasking the community policing and behavioral health advisory council with studying and making recommendations for creating a crisis response and continuity of care system that diverts individuals away from incarceration toward alternative emergency services and programs across the commonwealth.
… Read more.

‘Time is of the essence here’: High-risk groups await state vaccine plan

Cindy Friedman

With the first COVID-19 vaccines on track to arrive in Massachusetts in less than two weeks, thegroups most vulnerable to the deadly virus — from front-line health workers to residents of hard-hit communities — are awaiting thestate’s plan for allocating the initial doses in what’s shaping up as the largest vaccination program in history.

The distribution plan, which eventually could involve the vast majority of the nearly 7 million state residents, came into sharper focus after a meeting Tuesday of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel that’s preparing a national vaccine distribution framework. That was to be followed by a Tuesday evening meeting of Baker’s vaccine advisory group, which will recommend who in the state will get the vaccines first. The governor’s plan is expected to follow that recommendation.

While the precise “phasing” has yet to be determined, “we’re going to work hard to stay in sync with the CDC,” said state Senator Cindy Friedman of Arlington, a member of the state advisory group.

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Senator Friedman Joins Senate Colleagues to Pass FY21 Budget

Cindy Friedman

Includes increased funding for sectors impacted by COVID-19, including housing and childcare

(BOSTON – 11/20/2020) This week, Senator Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington) joined her Senate colleagues in unanimously passing a $46 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21), after adding $36.1 million in targeted investments over the course of two days of deliberations. Passed with bipartisan support, the budget aims to move the Commonwealth towards an equitable recovery by making critical investments in sectors impacted by COVID-19 including early education and childcare, food security, housing supports, and public health.

“I am proud to have voted in favor of this budget—the $46 billion in funding will help our residents, especially those who are most vulnerable, as the Commonwealth continues to face new and unprecedented challenges that have emerged as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Friedman, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “The Senate’s investments in behavioral health services, housing protections, reproductive health access, education, and food insecurity in particular are crucial steps toward ensuring a more equitable economic recovery and a more equitable Commonwealth for all.”

Through the amendment process Friedman secured:

  • $160,000 for the Arlington Youth Counseling Center (AYCC). These funds will ensure that the Arlington Youth Counseling Center can continue to provide much-needed services to youth in the 4th Middlesex district;
  • $90,000 to help English At Large in Woburn continue its work with English language tutoring and small group instruction for adult learners in 21 communities in Middlesex County; and
  • $350,000 to support the development of school-based Bridge programs, which integrate mental health, academic, family, and care coordination supports to address the needs of middle and high school students returning to school after physical health- or mental health-related absences.
… Read more.

I Support Amendment #180 (the “ROE Act”) in the FY21 Senate Budget—Here’s why.

Cindy Friedman

I firmly believe that everyone should be in control of their own bodies – and this includes women and their healthcare decisions. I have been a strong supporter of S.1209, the “ROE Act,” and have voiced my support in the past. I am proud to have voted YES in support of Amendment #180 in the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY) Senate Budget, which, similarly to the ROE Act, improves access to abortions in Massachusetts.

Please take a moment to read my statement on why I support Amendment #180 and if you have not done so already, read the full text of the Amendment on the Massachusetts Legislature website. In addition, feel free to share my statement with your friends and neighbors in our community.