AN ACT Relating to implementing recommendations from the children's mental health work group; amending RCW 74.09.495, 74.09.520, and 71.24.061; adding a new section to chapter 74.09 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.310 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28B.30 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28B.20 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 71.24 RCW; creating new sections; providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

The legislature further finds that until mental health and physical health services are fully integrated in the year 2020, children who are eligible for medicaid services and require mental health treatment should receive coordinated mental health and physical health services to the fullest extent possible.

The legislature further finds that in 2013, the department of social and health services and the health care authority reported that only forty percent of the children on medicaid who had mental health treatment needs were receiving services and that mental health treatment needs increase with the number of adverse childhood experiences that a child has undergone.

The legislature further finds that children with mental health service needs have higher rates of emergency room use, criminal justice system involvement, and an increased risk of homelessness, and that trauma-informed care can mitigate some of these negative outcomes.

Therefore, the legislature intends to implement recommendations from the children's mental health work group, as reported in December 2016, in order to improve mental health care access for children and their families through the early learning, K-12 education, and health care systems.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 74.09 RCW to read as follows:

(1) For children who are eligible for medical assistance and who have been identified as requiring mental health treatment, the authority must oversee the coordination of resources and services through the managed health care system as defined in RCW 74.09.325 to ensure the child receives treatment and appropriate care based on their assessed needs, regardless of whether the referral occurred through primary care, school-based services, or another practitioner.

(2) The authority must require each managed health care system as defined in RCW 74.09.325 to develop and maintain adequate capacity to facilitate child mental health treatment services in the community or transfers to a behavioral health organization, depending on the level of required care, by:

(a) Following up with individuals to (i) ensure an appointment has been secured and completed; and (ii) track the individual's utilization of services;

(b) Coordinating with and reporting back to primary care provider offices on individual treatment plans and medication management, in accordance with patient confidentiality laws;

(c) Providing information to health plan members and primary care providers about the behavioral health resource line available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; and

(d) Maintaining an accurate list of providers contracted to provide mental health services to children and youth. The list must contain current information regarding the providers' availability to provide services. The current list must be made available to health plan members and primary care providers.

(3) This section expires June 30, 2020.

Sec. 3.  RCW 74.09.495 and 2016 c 96 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

To better assure and understand issues related to network adequacy and access to services, the authority and the department shall report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, on the status of access to behavioral health services for children birth through age seventeen using data collected pursuant to RCW 70.320.050.

(1) At a minimum, the report must include the following components broken down by age, gender, and race and ethnicity:

(((1))) (a) The percentage of discharges for patients ages six through seventeen who had a visit to the emergency room with a primary diagnosis of mental health or alcohol or other drug dependence during the measuring year and who had a follow-up visit with any provider with a corresponding primary diagnosis of mental health or alcohol or other drug dependence within thirty days of discharge;

(((2))) (b) The percentage of health plan members with an identified mental health need who received mental health services during the reporting period; and

(((3))) (c) The percentage of children served by behavioral health organizations, including the types of services provided.

Sec. 4.  RCW 74.09.520 and 2015 1st sp.s. c 8 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The term "medical assistance" may include the following care and services subject to rules adopted by the authority or department: (a) Inpatient hospital services; (b) outpatient hospital services; (c) other laboratory and X-ray services; (d) nursing facility services; (e) physicians' services, which shall include prescribed medication and instruction on birth control devices; (f) medical care, or any other type of remedial care as may be established by the secretary or director; (g) home health care services; (h) private duty nursing services; (i) dental services; (j) physical and occupational therapy and related services; (k) prescribed drugs, dentures, and prosthetic devices; and eyeglasses prescribed by a physician skilled in diseases of the eye or by an optometrist, whichever the individual may select; (l) personal care services, as provided in this section; (m) hospice services; (n) other diagnostic, screening, preventive, and rehabilitative services; and (o) like services when furnished to a child by a school district in a manner consistent with the requirements of this chapter. For the purposes of this section, neither the authority nor the department may cut off any prescription medications, oxygen supplies, respiratory services, or other life-sustaining medical services or supplies.

"Medical assistance," notwithstanding any other provision of law, shall not include routine foot care, or dental services delivered by any health care provider, that are not mandated by Title XIX of the social security act unless there is a specific appropriation for these services.

(2) The department shall adopt, amend, or rescind such administrative rules as are necessary to ensure that Title XIX personal care services are provided to eligible persons in conformance with federal regulations.

(a) These administrative rules shall include financial eligibility indexed according to the requirements of the social security act providing for medicaid eligibility.

(b) The rules shall require clients be assessed as having a medical condition requiring assistance with personal care tasks. Plans of care for clients requiring health-related consultation for assessment and service planning may be reviewed by a nurse.

(c) The department shall determine by rule which clients have a health-related assessment or service planning need requiring registered nurse consultation or review. This definition may include clients that meet indicators or protocols for review, consultation, or visit.

(3) The department shall design and implement a means to assess the level of functional disability of persons eligible for personal care services under this section. The personal care services benefit shall be provided to the extent funding is available according to the assessed level of functional disability. Any reductions in services made necessary for funding reasons should be accomplished in a manner that assures that priority for maintaining services is given to persons with the greatest need as determined by the assessment of functional disability.

(4) Effective July 1, 1989, the authority shall offer hospice services in accordance with available funds.

(5) For Title XIX personal care services administered by aging and disability services administration of the department, the department shall contract with area agencies on aging:

(a) To provide case management services to individuals receiving Title XIX personal care services in their own home; and

(b) To reassess and reauthorize Title XIX personal care services or other home and community services as defined in RCW 74.39A.009 in home or in other settings for individuals consistent with the intent of this section:

(i) Who have been initially authorized by the department to receive Title XIX personal care services or other home and community services as defined in RCW 74.39A.009; and

(ii) Who, at the time of reassessment and reauthorization, are receiving such services in their own home.

(6) In the event that an area agency on aging is unwilling to enter into or satisfactorily fulfill a contract or an individual consumer's need for case management services will be met through an alternative delivery system, the department is authorized to:

(a) Obtain the services through competitive bid; and

(b) Provide the services directly until a qualified contractor can be found.

(7) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the authority may offer medicare part D prescription drug copayment coverage to full benefit dual eligible beneficiaries.

(8) Effective January 1, 2016, the authority shall require universal screening and provider payment for autism and developmental delays as recommended by the bright futures guidelines of the American academy of pediatrics, as they existed on August 27, 2015. This requirement is subject to the availability of funds.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The department shall establish a child care consultation program linking child care providers with evidence-based and best practice resources regarding caring for infants and young children who present behavioral concerns. The department may contract with an entity with expertise in child development and early learning programs in order to operate the child care consultation program.

(2) In establishing and operating the program, the department or contracted entity shall: (a) Provide support and guidance to child care staff; and (b) consult and coordinate with parents, other caregivers, and experts or practitioners involved with the care and well-being of young children.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.310 RCW to read as follows:

Each educational service district must establish a lead staff person for mental health. The lead staff person must have the primary responsibility of coordinating medicaid billing for schools and school districts, facilitating community partnerships, sharing service models, seeking public and private grant funding, and ensuring the adequacy of other system level supports for students with mental health needs. The lead staff person must collaborate with the office of the superintendent of public instruction as provided in section 7 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must employ a children's mental health services coordinator to coordinate and provide support for the activities of the mental health lead staff person in each educational service district, as provided in section 6 of this act.

(2) The office must designate one educational service district as a "lighthouse" to provide technical assistance to educational service district mental health leads. Technical assistance must include: (a) Facilitating peer-to-peer training opportunities; (b) providing information about the impact of racial and other disparities on children's mental health; (c) serving as a model for best practices for mental health coordination; and (d) training on medicaid billing for schools and school districts. The designated lighthouse must have experience in providing mental health services and in medicaid billing.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.30 RCW to read as follows:

Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, Washington State University shall offer one twenty-four month residency position that is approved by the accreditation council for graduate medical education to one resident specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry. The residency must include a minimum of twelve months of training in settings where children's mental health services are provided under the supervision of experienced psychiatric consultants and must be located east of the crest of the Cascade mountains.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10.  A new section is added to chapter 28B.20 RCW to read as follows:

Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the child and adolescent psychiatry residency program at the University of Washington shall offer one additional twenty-four month residency position that is approved by the accreditation council for graduate medical education to one resident specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry. The residency must include a minimum of twelve months of training in settings where children's mental health services are provided under the supervision of experienced psychiatric consultants and must be located west of the crest of the Cascade mountains.

Sec. 11.  RCW 71.24.061 and 2014 c 225 s 35 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall provide flexibility in provider contracting to behavioral health organizations for children's mental health services. Beginning with 2007-2009 biennium contracts, behavioral health organization contracts shall authorize behavioral health organizations to allow and encourage licensed community mental health centers to subcontract with individual licensed mental health professionals when necessary to meet the need for an adequate, culturally competent, and qualified children's mental health provider network.

(2) To the extent that funds are specifically appropriated for this purpose or that nonstate funds are available, a children's mental health evidence-based practice institute shall be established at the University of Washington division of public behavioral health and justice policy. The institute shall closely collaborate with entities currently engaged in evaluating and promoting the use of evidence-based, research-based, promising, or consensus-based practices in children's mental health treatment, including but not limited to the University of Washington department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, children's hospital and regional medical center, the University of Washington school of nursing, the University of Washington school of social work, and the Washington state institute for public policy. To ensure that funds appropriated are used to the greatest extent possible for their intended purpose, the University of Washington's indirect costs of administration shall not exceed ten percent of appropriated funding. The institute shall:

(a) Improve the implementation of evidence-based and research-based practices by providing sustained and effective training and consultation to licensed children's mental health providers and child-serving agencies who are implementing evidence-based or researched-based practices for treatment of children's emotional or behavioral disorders, or who are interested in adapting these practices to better serve ethnically or culturally diverse children. Efforts under this subsection should include a focus on appropriate oversight of implementation of evidence-based practices to ensure fidelity to these practices and thereby achieve positive outcomes;

(b) Continue the successful implementation of the "partnerships for success" model by consulting with communities so they may select, implement, and continually evaluate the success of evidence-based practices that are relevant to the needs of children, youth, and families in their community;

(c) Partner with youth, family members, family advocacy, and culturally competent provider organizations to develop a series of information sessions, literature, and online resources for families to become informed and engaged in evidence-based and research-based practices;

(d) Participate in the identification of outcome-based performance measures under RCW 71.36.025(2) and partner in a statewide effort to implement statewide outcomes monitoring and quality improvement processes; and

(e) Serve as a statewide resource to the department and other entities on child and adolescent evidence-based, research-based, promising, or consensus-based practices for children's mental health treatment, maintaining a working knowledge through ongoing review of academic and professional literature, and knowledge of other evidence-based practice implementation efforts in Washington and other states.

(3) ((To the extent that funds are specifically appropriated for this purpose, the)) (a) The department in collaboration with the evidence-based practice institute shall ((implement a pilot)) provide a partnership access line program to support primary care providers in the assessment and provision of appropriate diagnosis and treatment of children with mental and behavioral health disorders and track outcomes of this program. The program shall be designed to promote more accurate diagnoses and treatment through timely case consultation between primary care providers and child psychiatric specialists, and focused educational learning ((collaboratives)) collaboration with primary care providers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12.  A new section is added to chapter 71.24 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Upon initiation or renewal of a contract with the department, a behavioral health organization shall reimburse a provider for a behavioral health service provided to a covered person who is under eighteen years old through telemedicine or store and forward technology if:

(a) The behavioral health organization in which the covered person is enrolled provides coverage of the behavioral health service when provided in person by the provider; and

(b) The behavioral health service is medically necessary.

(2)(a) If the service is provided through store and forward technology there must be an associated visit between the covered person and the referring provider. Nothing in this section prohibits the use of telemedicine for the associated office visit.

(b) For purposes of this section, reimbursement of store and forward technology is available only for those services specified in the negotiated agreement between the behavioral health organization and provider.

(3) An originating site for a telemedicine behavioral health service subject to subsection (1) of this section means an originating site as defined in rule by the department.

(4) Any originating site, other than a home, under subsection (3) of this section may charge a facility fee for infrastructure and preparation of the patient. Reimbursement must be subject to a negotiated agreement between the originating site and the behavioral health organization. A distant site or any other site not identified in subsection (3) of this section may not charge a facility fee.

(5) A behavioral health organization may not distinguish between originating sites that are rural and urban in providing the coverage required in subsection (1) of this section.

(6) A behavioral health organization may subject coverage of a telemedicine or store and forward technology behavioral health service under subsection (1) of this section to all terms and conditions of the behavioral health organization in which the covered person is enrolled, including, but not limited to, utilization review, prior authorization, deductible, copayment, or coinsurance requirements that are applicable to coverage of a comparable behavioral health care service provided in person.

(7) This section does not require a behavioral health organization to reimburse:

(a) An originating site for professional fees;

(b) A provider for a behavioral health service that is not a covered benefit under the behavioral health organization; or

(c) An originating site or provider when the site or provider is not a contracted provider with the behavioral health organization.

(8) For purposes of this section:

(a) "Distant site" means the site at which a physician or other licensed provider, delivering a professional service, is physically located at the time the service is provided through telemedicine;

(b) "Hospital" means a facility licensed under chapter 70.41, 71.12, or 72.23 RCW;

(c) "Originating site" means the physical location of a patient receiving behavioral health services through telemedicine;

(d) "Provider" has the same meaning as in RCW 48.43.005;

(e) "Store and forward technology" means use of an asynchronous transmission of a covered person's medical or behavioral health information from an originating site to the provider at a distant site which results in medical or behavioral health diagnosis and management of the covered person, and does not include the use of audio-only telephone, facsimile, or email; and

(f) "Telemedicine" means the delivery of health care or behavioral health services through the use of interactive audio and video technology, permitting real-time communication between the patient at the originating site and the provider, for the purpose of diagnosis, consultation, or treatment. For purposes of this section only, "telemedicine" does not include the use of audio-only telephone, facsimile, or email.

(9) The department must adopt rules as necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

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