Massachusetts is one of the few states that does not regulate home care agencies. Two bills that cleared the state Senate the week of July 14 aim to change that, and Milton Sen. Bill Driscoll helped advance them as Senate chair of the Committee on Public Health, which moved both measures to the full chamber for a vote.

The Senate approved both by voice vote during the week of July 14. One, S 3170, would create the state's first licensure system for home care agencies. The other, S 3171, would expand protections for health care workers who face violence on the job.

What the home care bill would do

For Milton and Canton families arranging care for aging relatives or loved ones with disabilities, S 3170 addresses a gap that Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, described bluntly on the Senate floor: "There are a large and growing number of agencies, many for profit. They can send care workers who would come into your home and help with grocery shopping and even intimate help with showering. We don't even know how many such agencies there are. And they don't have to meet any standards."

The bill would require fingerprinting and background checks for home care agencies, direct the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to publish an online list of licensed agencies, and create a Home Care Worker and Consumer Abuse Stakeholder Advisory Committee. It would also establish a special commission to explore a state program for long-term care funding.

Cari Medina, executive vice president of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said the bill would protect older adults and people with disabilities from "fly-by-night home care operations that cut corners and mistreat workers to make a quick buck."

The House passed its own version of the home care bill on a 153-1 vote in November 2025. The two chambers will need to reconcile their versions before the legislation can reach Gov. Maura Healey's desk.

Protecting health care workers

S 3171 targets workplace violence in hospitals and doctors' offices. The Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association estimates that someone in a health care facility in the state is physically assaulted, verbally abused, or threatened every 38 minutes.

Under the bill, health care employers would conduct annual facility risk assessments, develop violence prevention programs, and report incidents to the Department of Public Health. Workers who are assaulted would receive paid leave for medical treatment and time spent aiding prosecution, without dipping into vacation or sick time. They could also list their employer's address on a criminal complaint instead of their home address.

The Senate and House versions differ on penalties. The Senate bill classifies assaults on health care workers as misdemeanors; the House version, passed in November 2025, would make them felonies. The two chambers will appoint a conference committee to reconcile the difference.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, and 1199SEIU all support the health care worker legislation.

What's next

Both bills head toward conference committees to reconcile differences with the House versions. No final enactment date has been announced. Driscoll, who has made health a recurring focus of his legislative work, also helped send the DEHP toxic-chemical ban to the governor's desk the same week.