SB 5705 — Concerning inspection and review of state contracted behavioral health and recovery agencies.

S-1787.2SUBSTITUTES-1145.1SENATE SENATE BILL 5705State of Washington65th Legislature2017 Regular SessionBy Senate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Becker, O'Ban, Rivers, Bailey, Miloscia, Schoesler, Warnick, Brown, Zeiger, and Honeyford)READHoneyfordRead FIRSTfirst TIMEtime 02/24/17.AN02/03/17. ACT Relating to inspection and review of state contracted behavioral health and recovery agencies;

amendingReferred RCWto 43.20A.894;Committee on Human Services, Mental Health & Housing.AN ACT Relating to inspection and review of state contracted behavioral health and recovery agencies;

and creatingamending aRCW new43.20A.894.BE section.BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:Sec. 1.  RCW 43.20A.894 and 2014 c 225 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:(1) Any agreement or contract by the department or the health care authority to provide behavioral health services as defined under RCW 71.24.025 to persons eligible for benefits under medicaid, Title XIX of the social security act, and to persons not eligible for medicaid must include the following:(a) Contractual provisions consistent with the intent expressed in RCW 71.24.015, 71.36.005, ((70.96A.010,)) and 70.96A.011;(b) Standards regarding the quality of services to be provided, including increased use of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices, as defined in RCW 71.24.025;(c) Accountability for the client outcomes established in RCW 43.20A.895, 70.320.020, and 71.36.025 and performance measures linked to those outcomes;(d) Standards requiring behavioral health organizations to maintain a network of appropriate providers that is supported by written agreements sufficient to provide adequate access to all services covered under the contract with the department or the health care authority and to protect essential existing behavioral health system infrastructure and capacity, including a continuum of chemical dependency services;(e) Provisions to require that medically necessary chemical dependency and mental health treatment services be available to clients;(f) Standards requiring the use of behavioral health service provider reimbursement methods that incentivize improved performance with respect to the client outcomes established in RCW 43.20A.895 and 71.36.025, integration of behavioral health and primary care services at the clinical level, and improved care coordination for individuals with complex care needs;(g) Standards related to the financial integrity of the responding organization.

The regional service areas must be established by the department and the health care authority as provided in RCW 43.20A.893.(4) Consideration must be given to using multiple-biennia contracting periods.(5) Each behavioral health organization operating pursuant to a contract issued under this section shall enroll clients within its regional service area who meet the department's eligibility criteria for mental health and chemical dependency services.(6) The state finds that the department should not reduceengage in the improper and inappropriate reduction of the number of license violations found by field inspectors for the purpose of allowing agency licensees to avoid liability in a manner that permits the violating agency to stay open at the risk of public safety.

Any settlement agreement entered into between the department and behavioral health provider licensees to resolve administrative complaints, license violations, license suspensions, or license revocations may not reduce the number of violations reported by the department unless the department concludes, based on evidence gathered by inspectors, that the agency did not commit one or more of the violations.(7) The statedepartment recognizesshall theissue needan annual report to prohibitthe shamlegislature transferscontaining a detailed overview of licenseseach settlement agreement entered into between the department and behavioral health licensees foundconcerning inthe violationresolution of theadministrative termscomplaints, oflicense theirviolations, license agreementsuspensions, and theirlicense familyrevocations. members.

The report must summarize the settlement agreements and include the full agreements in an appendix.

The report must provide background information on the agency licensee and include details of the circumstances that triggered the license suspension or revocation process.(8) The state recognizes the need to prohibit sham transfers of licenses between behavioral health licensees found in violation of the terms of their license agreement and their family members.

Transfers to family members should be prohibited in cases where the purpose of the transfer is to avoid liability or reset the number of license violations found before the transfer.NEWtransfer.--- SECTION.  Sec. 2.  If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 2017, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.--- END ---