SB19-222 is the kind of substantial reform ---
​individuals, Advocates & Families Have Been crying for


​BILL SUMMARY

The bill requires the department of health care policy and financing (state department) to develop measurable outcomes to monitor efforts to prevent medicaid recipients from becoming involved in the criminal justice system.

The bill requires the state department to work collaboratively with managed care entities to create incentives for behavioral health providers to accept medicaid recipients with severe behavioral health disorders.

The bill requires the state department to determine if seeking a 1115 demonstration waiver is the necessary response to the requirements of 42 CFR 438.6 (e) to ensure inpatient services are available to individuals with a serious mental illness.

If the state department determines it is not appropriate, the state department is required to submit a report to the general assembly with the state department's reasoning and an alternative plan and proposed timeline for the implementation of the alternative plan.

The bill requires access to inpatient civil beds at the mental health institutes at Pueblo and Fort Logan to be based on the need of the individual and the inability of the individual to be stabilized in the community.

The bill creates a community behavioral health safety net system (safety net system) and requires the department of human services (department), in collaboration with the state department, to conduct the following activities:

  • Define what constitutes a high-intensity behavioral health treatment program (treatment program), determine what an adequate network of high-intensity behavioral health treatment services includes, and identify existing treatment programs;
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  • Develop an implementation plan to increase the number of treatment programs in the state;
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  • Identify an advisory body to assist the department in creating a comprehensive proposal for a safety net system;
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  • Develop a comprehensive proposal to develop a safety net system that provides behavioral health services for individuals with severe behavioral health disorders;
 
  • Implement the safety net system no later than January 1, 2024; and
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  • Provide an annual report from January 1, 2022, until July 1, 2024, on the progress made by the department in implementing and ensuring a safety net system to the public through the annual SMART Act hearing.
SB19-222
Individuals At Risk Of Institutionalization
Concerning the improvement of access to behavioral health services for individuals at risk of institutionalization.