BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 817
85R6873 JG-F	By: Watson
	Health & Human Services
	4/24/2017
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Currently, Medicaid requires a mental health screening to be performed once during the 12 through 18 year range. However, Medicaid will not reimburse for more than one such screening over those six years. This means doctors have to carefully choose the screening tool for the child, and if a mental illness manifests after the first screening, any subsequent screenings are not reimbursed by the state. Given that tests can have different results, this presents a challenge to healthcare providers.

S.B. 817 remedies this problem by allowing doctors to perform mental health screenings more than once per child (no more than once per year) to better help catch and treat mental illness.

As proposed, S.B. 817 amends current law relating to certain mental health screenings under the Texas Health Steps program.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, by adding Section 32.0249, as follows:

Sec. 32.0249. MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS IN TEXAS HEALTH STEPS PROGRAM. Requires the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, in the rules governing the Texas Health Steps program (program), to:

(1) require that at least one mental health screening be provided using one or more validated, standardized mental health screening tools to each recipient who is at least 12 years of age but younger than 19 years of age;

(2) require the described mental health screening to be conducted during a recipient's annual medical exam;

(3) allow a provider to conduct a mental health screening using one or more validated, standardized mental health screening tools during each described annual medical exam of a recipient; and

(4) only allow a provider to be reimbursed for conducting one mental health screening using one or more validated, standardized mental health screening tools during each described annual medical exam of a recipient.

SECTION 2. Requires a state agency, if necessary for implementation of a provision of this Act, to request a waiver or authorization from a federal agency, and authorizes delay of implementation until such a waiver or authorization is granted.

SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2017.