BILL ANALYSIS |
|
C.S.H.B. 1393 |
|
By: Turner, Sylvester |
|
Human Services |
|
Committee Report (Substituted) |
|
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Texas, interested parties note, currently lacks an intermediate level of care for persons with severe and persistent mental illness. The parties suggest that, without the appropriate level of services and supports, this population can be easily destabilized and continue to cycle in and out of the criminal justice, emergency services, and state mental hospital systems. The parties conclude that providing a mechanism to serve this population will allow the state to maximize federal funding and will also save state and county dollars by providing an appropriate level of service for those who commonly use more expensive services. C.S.H.B. 1393 seeks to provide for such a mechanism.
|
||||||||||
|
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
|
||||||||||
|
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.
|
||||||||||
|
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1393 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), in conjunction with the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), to establish a home and community-based services program as part of the Medicaid program for persons with severe and persistent mental illness who are at the greatest risk of institutionalization, including the following persons: persons who have been found incompetent to stand trial and who are transitioning from receiving inpatient mental health services to outpatient mental health services; persons who have been ordered to receive outpatient mental health services following an acquittal by reason of insanity; persons who have been ordered by a court to receive inpatient mental health services three or more times in a two-year period; persons with severe and persistent mental illness who have been confined in a county jail and charged with an offense three or more times in a two-year period; and children and adults who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis.
C.S.H.B. 1393 authorizes DSHS, in operating the home and community-based services program, to provide or coordinate with other entities for the provision of housing, employment, family, peer counseling, and education supports to persons participating in the program. The bill requires the executive commissioner of HHSC by rule to develop needs-based criteria to determine a person's eligibility for the program. The bill requires the executive commissioner to consider the funds available for the program in adopting the rules and to adopt any other rules necessary to implement the program, including rules that define what constitutes a severe and persistent mental illness. The bill requires HHSC, as soon as practicable after the bill's effective date, to collaborate with DSHS to develop and seek approval of an amendment to the state Medicaid plan to receive federal Medicaid funding for the home and community-based services program.
|
||||||||||
|
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
|
||||||||||
|
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1393 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
|
||||||||||
|