Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
TREATMENT OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Date:
09/19/2005
ATTENDANCE
Time:
08:07 AM
to
08:25 AM
Kester
E
Solano
X
Place:
HCR 0109
Stafford
E
Takis
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Windels
X
Representative
Jahn
Jahn
X
This Report was prepared by
Jennifer Moe
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed:
Action Taken:
Legislative Proposal
Approved continued work on the proposal
08:07 AM
The committee came to order. Attendance was taken, and a quorum was present. Committee members were provided with a draft legislative proposal concerning mental health services coverage under health benefit plans (Attachment A). The chair invited Mr. Ray Slaughter, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice and Chair of the Task Force, to discuss a legislative proposal about insurance providers and court-ordered mental health treatment. Mr. Slaughter acknowledged Jewlya Lynn, Consultants for Systems Integration; Michael Dohr, Office of Legislative Legal Services; and Deb Kupfer, Task Force member, who were all in attendance at the meeting and had worked on the legislative proposal.
Mr. Slaughter described the bill's scope, noting that the mental health services must be medically necessary and already be covered under the person's insurance plan, and services must be provided by a treatment provider who is affiliated with the plan. He stated that the bill is not intended to mandate coverage of all court-ordered mental health treatment by insurance providers. He also said that he and other interested parties (including insurance providers) met recently about the proposal, and that the insurance industry plans to offer some alternative language for sections of the bill. The group of interested parties will meet again to discuss these and other submitted changes next week. The task force will then bring the amended version of the proposal to the oversight committee on October 17 for review.
Senator Takis asked about the concept of a procedure that is medically necessary, which is usually determined by a doctor, and Mr. Slaughter stated that the insurance providers want that language in the bill and will likely provide a list of conditions for which the court will be precluded from making that call. Mr. Slaughter requested permission to disseminate the proposal to others as it is being drafted and discussed. Senator Takis suggested that, in doing so, he make it clear that the proposal is a draft and not a bill.
The chair invited Dr. Harriet Hall, CEO of the Jefferson Center for Mental Health and Vice-chair of the Task Force, to the table for additional comments.
BILL:
Legislative Proposal
TIME:
08:19:18 AM
MOVED:
Takis
MOTION:
Let the Task Force continue working on the legislative proposal concerning mental health services coverage under health benefit plans, and allow the draft proposal to be disseminated during this process. The motion passed without objection by those committee members present.
SECONDED:
Solano
VOTE
Kester
Excused
Solano
Stafford
Excused
Takis
Windels
Jahn
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
2
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
08:21 AM
The committee discussed the next meeting, which is scheduled for October 17, 2005. In response to a question from the committee, Dr. Hall explained that the HIFA waiver was not moved forward to the Joint Budget Committee. Instead, she said, the Joint Health and Human Services Committees recommended that the waiver's goals and purposes be preserved and, to that end, some legislators are working on legislation for the 2006 session to address their concerns.
The committee had no further business, and it adjourned.