(iii) promulgate regulations further defining:

1. (A) eligibility criteria for reimbursable health services;
2. (B) the scope of health services that are eligible for reimbursement by the Health Safety Net Trust Fund;
3. (C) standards for medical hardship; and (D) standards for reasonable efforts to collect payments for the costs of emergency care; provided, however, that the office shall verify eligibility using the eligibility system of the office of Medicaid and other appropriate sources to determine the eligibility of uninsured and underinsured patients for reimbursable health services and shall establish other procedures to ensure that payments from the fund are made for health services for which there is no other public or private third-party payer, including disallowance of payments to acute hospitals and community health centers for health services provided to individuals if reimbursement is available from other public or private sources;
4. (iv) develop programs and guidelines to encourage maximum enrollment of uninsured individuals who receive health services reimbursed by the fund into health care plans and programs of health insurance offered by public and private sources and to promote the delivery of care in the most appropriate setting; provided, however, that the programs and guidelines shall be developed in consultation with the commonwealth health insurance connector, established pursuant to chapter 176Q; and provided further, that these programs shall not deny payments from the fund because services should have been provided in a more appropriate setting if the hospital was required to provide the services under 42 U.S.C. 1395dd;
5. (v) conduct a utilization review program designed to monitor the appropriateness of services for which payments were made by the fund and promote the delivery of care in the most appropriate setting;
6. (vi) administer demonstration programs that reduce Health Safety Net Trust Fund liability to acute hospitals, including a demonstration program to enable disease management for patients with chronic diseases, substance use disorders and psychiatric disorders through enrollment of patients in community health centers and community mental health centers and through coordination between these centers and acute hospitals; provided, however, that the office shall report the results of these reviews annually to the joint committee on health care financing and the senate and house committees on ways and means;
7. (vii) enter into agreements or transactions with any federal, state or municipal agency or other public institution or with a private individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association or other entity and to make contracts and execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the carrying on of its business;
8. (viii) secure payment, without imposing undue hardship upon any individual, for unpaid bills owed to acute hospitals by individuals for health services that are ineligible for reimbursement from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund that have been accounted for as bad debt by the hospital and that are voluntarily referred by a hospital to the department for collection; provided, however, that such unpaid charges shall be considered debts owed to the commonwealth and all payments received shall be credited to the fund; and provided further, that all actions to secure such payments shall be conducted in compliance with a protocol previously submitted by the office to the joint committee on health care financing;
9. (ix) require hospitals and community health centers to submit data that it reasonably considers necessary to the office;

10. (x) make, amend and repeal rules and regulations to effectuate the efficient use of money from the Health Safety Net Trust Fund; provided, however, that the regulations shall be promulgated only after notice and hearing and only upon consultation with the board of the commonwealth health insurance connector, representatives of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, Inc., the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, Inc., the Alliance of Massachusetts Safety Net Hospitals, the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, Inc. and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Inc.; and (xi) provide an annual report at the close of each fund fiscal year to the joint committee on health care financing and the senate and house committees on ways and means evaluating the processes used to determine eligibility for reimbursable health services, including the Virtual Gateway. The report shall include, but not be limited to:

    1. (A) an analysis of the effectiveness of these processes in enforcing eligibility requirements for publicly-funded health programs and in enrolling uninsured residents into programs of health insurance offered by public and private sources;
    2. (B) an assessment of the impact of these processes on the level of reimbursable health services by providers; and (C) recommendations for ongoing improvements to enhance the performance of eligibility determination systems and reduce hospital administrative costs.