S-0134.2

SENATE BILL 5056

BySenators O'Ban, Zeiger, and Wagoner

AN ACT Relating to providing incentives to reduce involvement by persons with behavioral health disorders in the criminal justice system; amending RCW 70.320.020, 70.320.030, 43.20A.895, 41.05.690, 71.24.016, 71.24.035, 71.24.380, 71.24.420, 74.09.758, and 74.09.871; adding a new section to chapter 71.24 RCW; creating a new section; and recodifying RCW 43.20A.895.

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

The legislature finds that two outcomes established by chapter 320, Laws of 2013 (Engrossed Substitute House Bill No. 1519) and chapter 338, Laws of 2013 (Second Substitute Senate Bill No. 5732) which are key to the integration of behavioral health into primary health networks are (1) reduction in client involvement with the criminal justice system; and (2) reduction in avoidable costs in jails and prisons. These outcomes reflect Washington's priorities to incentivize cross-system collaboration between health networks, government entities, and the criminal justice system; to emphasize prevention over crisis response; and to remove individuals whose offending is driven primarily by health status instead of criminality from the criminal justice system.

The legislature further finds that indicators since 2013 show worsening trends for interaction between persons with behavioral health disorders and the criminal justice system. According to data presented in October 2018 by the research and data administration of the department of social and health services, arrests of persons enrolled in public health with an identified mental health or substance use disorder condition increased by sixty-seven percent during this five-year period, while the overall rate of arrest declined by eleven percent. According to the same data source, referrals for state mental health services related to competency to stand trial have increased by sixty-four percent, incurring substantial liability for the state in the case of Trueblood v. Department of Social and Health Services. The purpose of this act is to focus the health care authority's purchasing efforts on providing incentives to its contractors to reverse these trends and achieve the outcome of reduced criminal justice system involvement for public health system clients with behavioral health disorders.

Sec. 2. RCW 70.320.020 and 2017 c 226 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The authority and the department shall base contract performance measures developed under RCW 70.320.030 on the following outcomes when contracting with service contracting entities: Improvements in client health status and wellness; increases in client participation in meaningful activities; reductions in client involvement with criminal justice systems; reductions in avoidable costs in hospitals, emergency rooms, crisis services, and jails and prisons; increases in stable housing in the community; improvements in client satisfaction with quality of life; and reductions in population-level health disparities.

(2) The performance measures must demonstrate the manner in which the following principles are achieved within each of the outcomes under subsection (1) of this section:

(a) Maximization of the use of evidence-based practices will be given priority over the use of research-based and promising practices, and research-based practices will be given priority over the use of promising practices. The agencies will develop strategies to identify programs that are effective with ethnically diverse clients and to consult with tribal governments, experts within ethnically diverse communities and community organizations that serve diverse communities;

(b) The maximization of the client's independence, recovery, and employment;

(c) The maximization of the client's participation in treatment decisions; and

(d) The collaboration between consumer-based support programs in providing services to the client.

(3) In developing performance measures under RCW 70.320.030, the authority and the department shall consider expected outcomes relevant to the general populations that each agency serves. The authority and the department may adapt the outcomes to account for the unique needs and characteristics of discrete subcategories of populations receiving services, including ethnically diverse communities.

(4) The authority and the department shall coordinate the establishment of the expected outcomes and the performance measures between each agency as well as each program to identify expected outcomes and performance measures that are common to the clients enrolled in multiple programs and to eliminate conflicting standards among the agencies and programs.

(5)(a) The authority and the department shall establish timelines and mechanisms for service contracting entities to report data related to performance measures and outcomes, including phased implementation of public reporting of outcome and performance measures in a form that allows for comparison of performance measures and levels of improvement between geographic regions of Washington.

(b) The authority and the department may not release any public reports of client outcomes unless the data has been deidentified and aggregated in such a way that the identity of individual clients cannot be determined through directly identifiable data or the combination of multiple data elements.

(6)(a) The ((authority and department))performance measures coordinating committee must establish: (i) A performance measure to be integrated into the statewide common measure set which tracks effective integration practices of behavioral health services in primary care settings; (ii) performance measures which track rates of criminal justice system involvement among public health system clients with an identified behavioral health need including, but not limited to, rates of arrest and incarceration; and (iii) improvement targets related to these measures.

(b) The performance measures coordinating committee must report to the governor and appropriate committees of the legislature regarding the implementation of this subsection by December 1, 2019.

Sec. 3. RCW 70.320.030 and 2015 c 209 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

((By September 1, 2014:))

(1) The authority shall adopt performance measures to determine whether service contracting entities are achieving the outcomes described in RCW 70.320.020 and 41.05.690 for clients enrolled in medical managed care programs operated according to Title XIX or XXI of the federal social security act.

(2) The ((department))authority shall adopt performance measures to determine whether service contracting entities are achieving the outcomes described in RCW 70.320.020 for clients receiving mental health, long-term care, or chemical dependency services.

Sec. 4. RCW 43.20A.895 and 2014 c 225 s 64 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The systems responsible for financing, administration, and delivery of publicly funded mental health and chemical dependency services to adults must be designed and administered to achieve improved outcomes for adult clients served by those systems through increased use and development of evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices, as defined in RCW 71.24.025. For purposes of this section, client outcomes include: Improved health status; increased participation in employment and education; reduced involvement with the criminal justice system; enhanced safety and access to treatment for forensic patients; reduction in avoidable utilization of and costs associated with hospital, emergency room, and crisis services; increased housing stability; improved quality of life, including measures of recovery and resilience; and decreased population level disparities in access to treatment and treatment outcomes.

(2) The ((department and the health care)) authority must implement a strategy for the improvement of the ((adult)) behavioral health system.

(((a) The department must establish a steering committee that includes at least the following members: Behavioral health service recipients and their families; local government; representatives of behavioral health organizations; representatives of county coordinators; law enforcement; city and county jails; tribal representatives; behavioral health service providers, including at least one chemical dependency provider and at least one psychiatric advanced registered nurse practitioner; housing providers; medicaid managed care plan representatives; long-term care service providers; organizations representing health care professionals providing services in mental health settings; the Washington state hospital association; the Washington state medical association; individuals with expertise in evidence-based and research-based behavioral health service practices; and the health care authority.

(3) The department must contract for the services of an independent consultant to review the provision of forensic mental health services in Washington state and provide recommendations as to whether and how the state's forensic mental health system should be modified to provide an appropriate treatment environment for individuals with mental disorders who have been charged with a crime while enhancing the safety and security of the public and other patients and staff at forensic treatment facilities. By August 1, 2014, the department must submit a report regarding the recommendations of the independent consultant to the governor and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the legislature.))

Sec. 6. RCW 41.05.690 and 2014 c 223 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) There is created a performance measures committee, the purpose of which is to identify and recommend standard statewide measures of health performance to inform public and private health care purchasers and to propose benchmarks to track costs and improvements in health outcomes.

(2) Members of the committee must include representation from state agencies, small and large employers, health plans, patient groups, federally recognized tribes, consumers, academic experts on health care measurement, hospitals, physicians, and other providers. The governor shall appoint the members of the committee, except that a statewide association representing hospitals may appoint a member representing hospitals, and a statewide association representing physicians may appoint a member representing physicians. The governor shall ensure that members represent diverse geographic locations and both rural and urban communities. The chief executive officer of the lead organization must also serve on the committee. The committee must be chaired by the director of the authority.

(3) The committee shall develop a transparent process for selecting performance measures, and the process must include opportunities for public comment.

(4) By January 1, 2015, the committee shall submit the performance measures to the authority. The measures must include dimensions of:

(a) Prevention and screening;

(b) Effective management of chronic conditions;

(c) Key health outcomes;

(d) Care coordination and patient safety; and

(e) Use of the lowest cost, highest quality care for preventive care and acute and chronic conditions.

(5) The committee shall develop a measure set that:

(a) Is of manageable size;

(b) Is based on readily available claims and clinical data;

(c) Gives preference to nationally reported measures and, where nationally reported measures may not be appropriate, measures used by state agencies that purchase health care or commercial health plans;

(d) Focuses on the overall performance of the system, including outcomes and total cost;

(e) Is aligned with the governor's performance management system measures and common measure requirements specific to medicaid delivery systems under RCW 70.320.020 and 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act);

(f) Considers the needs of different stakeholders and the populations served; and

(g) Is usable by multiple payers, providers, hospitals, purchasers, public health, and communities as part of health improvement, care improvement, provider payment systems, benefit design, and administrative simplification for providers and hospitals.

(6) State agencies shall use the measure set developed under this section to inform and set benchmarks for purchasing decisions.

(7) The committee shall establish a public process to periodically evaluate the measure set and make additions or changes to the measure set as needed.

Sec. 7. RCW 71.24.016 and 2014 c 225 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The legislature intends that eastern and western state hospitals shall operate as clinical centers for handling the most complicated long-term care needs of patients with a primary diagnosis of mental disorder. It is further the intent of the legislature that the community mental health service delivery system focus on maintaining individuals with mental illness in the community. The program shall be evaluated and managed through a limited number of outcome and performance measures, as provided in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025.

(2) The legislature intends to address the needs of people with mental disorders with a targeted, coordinated, and comprehensive set of evidence-based practices that are effective in serving individuals in their community and will reduce the need for placements in state mental hospitals. The legislature further intends to explicitly hold behavioral health organizations accountable for serving people with mental disorders within the boundaries of their regional service area and for not exceeding their allocation of state hospital beds.

Sec. 8. RCW 71.24.035 and 2018 c 201 s 4004 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The authority is designated as the state behavioral health authority which includes recognition as the single state authority for substance use disorders and state mental health authority.

(2) The director shall provide for public, client, tribal, and licensed or certified service provider participation in developing the state behavioral health program, developing contracts with behavioral health organizations, and any waiver request to the federal government under medicaid.

(3) The director shall provide for participation in developing the state behavioral health program for children and other underserved populations, by including representatives on any committee established to provide oversight to the state behavioral health program.

(4) The director shall be designated as the behavioral health organization if the behavioral health organization fails to meet state minimum standards or refuses to exercise responsibilities under its contract or RCW 71.24.045, until such time as a new behavioral health organization is designated.

(5) The director shall:

(a) Develop a biennial state behavioral health program that incorporates regional biennial needs assessments and regional mental health service plans and state services for adults and children with mental disorders or substance use disorders or both;

(b) Assure that any behavioral health organization or county community behavioral health program provides medically necessary services to medicaid recipients consistent with the state's medicaid state plan or federal waiver authorities, and nonmedicaid services consistent with priorities established by the authority;

(c) Develop and adopt rules establishing state minimum standards for the delivery of behavioral health services pursuant to RCW 71.24.037 including, but not limited to:

(i) Licensed or certified service providers. These rules shall permit a county-operated behavioral health program to be licensed as a service provider subject to compliance with applicable statutes and rules.

(ii) Inpatient services, an adequate network of evaluation and treatment services and facilities under chapter 71.05 RCW to ensure access to treatment, resource management services, and community support services;

(d) Assure that the special needs of persons who are minorities, elderly, disabled, children, low-income, and parents who are respondents in dependency cases are met within the priorities established in this section;

(e) Establish a standard contract or contracts, consistent with state minimum standards which shall be used in contracting with behavioral health organizations. The standard contract shall include a maximum fund balance, which shall be consistent with that required by federal regulations or waiver stipulations;

(f) Make contracts necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers, including managed care contracts for behavioral health services, contracts entered into under RCW 74.09.522, and contracts with public and private agencies, organizations, and individuals to pay them for behavioral health services;

(g) Establish, to the extent possible, a standardized auditing procedure which is designed to assure compliance with contractual agreements authorized by this chapter and minimizes paperwork requirements of behavioral health organizations and licensed or certified service providers. The audit procedure shall focus on the outcomes of service as provided in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025;

(h) Develop and maintain an information system to be used by the state and behavioral health organizations that includes a tracking method which allows the authority and behavioral health organizations to identify behavioral health clients' participation in any behavioral health service or public program on an immediate basis. The information system shall not include individual patient's case history files. Confidentiality of client information and records shall be maintained as provided in this chapter and chapter 70.02 RCW;

(i) Periodically monitor the compliance of behavioral health organizations and their network of licensed or certified service providers for compliance with the contract between the authority, the behavioral health organization, and federal and state rules at reasonable times and in a reasonable manner;

(j) Monitor and audit behavioral health organizations as needed to assure compliance with contractual agreements authorized by this chapter;

(k) Adopt such rules as are necessary to implement the authority's responsibilities under this chapter; and

(l) Administer or supervise the administration of the provisions relating to persons with substance use disorders and intoxicated persons of any state plan submitted for federal funding pursuant to federal health, welfare, or treatment legislation.

(6) The director shall use available resources only for behavioral health organizations, except:

(a) To the extent authorized, and in accordance with any priorities or conditions specified, in the biennial appropriations act; or

(b) To incentivize improved performance with respect to the client outcomes established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025, integration of behavioral health and medical services at the clinical level, and improved care coordination for individuals with complex care needs.

(7) Each behavioral health organization and licensed or certified service provider shall file with the secretary of the department of health or the director, on request, such data, statistics, schedules, and information as the secretary of the department of health or the director reasonably requires. A behavioral health organization or licensed or certified service provider which, without good cause, fails to furnish any data, statistics, schedules, or information as requested, or files fraudulent reports thereof, may be subject to the behavioral health organization contractual remedies in RCW 74.09.871 or may have its service provider certification or license revoked or suspended.

(8) The superior court may restrain any behavioral health organization or service provider from operating without a contract, certification, or a license or any other violation of this section. The court may also review, pursuant to procedures contained in chapter 34.05 RCW, any denial, suspension, limitation, restriction, or revocation of certification or license, and grant other relief required to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

(9) Upon petition by the secretary of the department of health or the director, and after hearing held upon reasonable notice to the facility, the superior court may issue a warrant to an officer or employee of the secretary of the department of health or the director authorizing him or her to enter at reasonable times, and examine the records, books, and accounts of any behavioral health organization or service provider refusing to consent to inspection or examination by the authority.

(10) Notwithstanding the existence or pursuit of any other remedy, the secretary of the department of health or the director may file an action for an injunction or other process against any person or governmental unit to restrain or prevent the establishment, conduct, or operation of a behavioral health organization or service provider without a contract, certification, or a license under this chapter.

(11) The authority shall distribute appropriated state and federal funds in accordance with any priorities, terms, or conditions specified in the appropriations act.

(12) The director shall assume all duties assigned to the nonparticipating behavioral health organizations under chapters 71.05 and 71.34 RCW and this chapter. Such responsibilities shall include those which would have been assigned to the nonparticipating counties in regions where there are not participating behavioral health organizations.

The behavioral health organizations, or the director's assumption of all responsibilities under chapters 71.05 and 71.34 RCW and this chapter, shall be included in all state and federal plans affecting the state behavioral health program including at least those required by this chapter, the medicaid program, and P.L. 99-660. Nothing in these plans shall be inconsistent with the intent and requirements of this chapter.

(13) The director shall:

(a) Disburse funds for the behavioral health organizations within sixty days of approval of the biennial contract. The authority must either approve or reject the biennial contract within sixty days of receipt.

(b) Enter into biennial contracts with behavioral health organizations. The contracts shall be consistent with available resources. No contract shall be approved that does not include progress toward meeting the goals of this chapter by taking responsibility for: (i) Short-term commitments; (ii) residential care; and (iii) emergency response systems.

(c) Notify behavioral health organizations of their allocation of available resources at least sixty days prior to the start of a new biennial contract period.

(d) Deny all or part of the funding allocations to behavioral health organizations based solely upon formal findings of noncompliance with the terms of the behavioral health organization's contract with the authority. Behavioral health organizations disputing the decision of the director to withhold funding allocations are limited to the remedies provided in the authority's contracts with the behavioral health organizations.

(14) The authority, in cooperation with the state congressional delegation, shall actively seek waivers of federal requirements and such modifications of federal regulations as are necessary to allow federal medicaid reimbursement for services provided by freestanding evaluation and treatment facilities licensed under chapter 71.12 RCW or certified under chapter 71.05 RCW. The authority shall periodically report its efforts to the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives.

(15) The authority may:

(a) Plan, establish, and maintain substance use disorder prevention and substance use disorder treatment programs as necessary or desirable;

(b) Coordinate its activities and cooperate with behavioral programs in this and other states, and make contracts and other joint or cooperative arrangements with state, local, or private agencies in this and other states for behavioral health services and for the common advancement of substance use disorder programs;

(c) Solicit and accept for use any gift of money or property made by will or otherwise, and any grant of money, services, or property from the federal government, the state, or any political subdivision thereof or any private source, and do all things necessary to cooperate with the federal government or any of its agencies in making an application for any grant;

(d) Keep records and engage in research and the gathering of relevant statistics; and

(e) Acquire, hold, or dispose of real property or any interest therein, and construct, lease, or otherwise provide substance use disorder treatment programs.

Sec. 9. RCW 71.24.380 and 2018 c 201 s 4022 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director shall purchase mental health and chemical dependency treatment services primarily through managed care contracting, but may continue to purchase behavioral health services directly from tribal clinics and other tribal providers.

(2)(a) The director shall request a detailed plan from the entities identified in (b) of this subsection that demonstrates compliance with the contractual elements of RCW 74.09.871 and federal regulations related to medicaid managed care contracting including, but not limited to: Having a sufficient network of providers to provide adequate access to mental health and chemical dependency services for residents of the regional service area that meet eligibility criteria for services, ability to maintain and manage adequate reserves, and maintenance of quality assurance processes. Any responding entity that submits a detailed plan that demonstrates that it can meet the requirements of this section must be awarded the contract to serve as the behavioral health organization.

(b)(i) For purposes of responding to the request for a detailed plan under (a) of this subsection, the entities from which a plan will be requested are:

(A) A county in a single county regional service area that currently serves as the regional support network for that area;

(B) In the event that a county has made a decision prior to January 1, 2014, not to contract as a regional support network, any private entity that serves as the regional support network for that area;

(C) All counties within a regional service area that includes more than one county, which shall form a responding entity through the adoption of an interlocal agreement. The interlocal agreement must specify the terms by which the responding entity shall serve as the behavioral health organization within the regional service area.

(ii) In the event that a regional service area is comprised of multiple counties including one that has made a decision prior to January 1, 2014, not to contract as a regional support network the counties shall adopt an interlocal agreement and may respond to the request for a detailed plan under (a) of this subsection and the private entity may also respond to the request for a detailed plan. If both responding entities meet the requirements of this section, the responding entities shall follow the authority's procurement process established in subsection (3) of this section.

(3) If an entity that has received a request under this section to submit a detailed plan does not respond to the request, a responding entity under subsection (1) of this section is unable to substantially meet the requirements of the request for a detailed plan, or more than one responding entity substantially meets the requirements for the request for a detailed plan, the authority shall use a procurement process in which other entities recognized by the director may bid to serve as the behavioral health organization in that regional service area.

(4) Contracts for behavioral health organizations must begin on April 1, 2016.

(5) Upon request of all of the county authorities in a regional service area, the authority may purchase behavioral health services through an integrated medical and behavioral health services contract with a behavioral health organization or a managed health care system as defined in RCW 74.09.522, pursuant to standards to be developed by the authority. Any contract for such a purchase must comply with all federal medicaid and state law requirements related to managed health care contracting.

(6) As an incentive to county authorities to become early adopters of fully integrated purchasing of medical and behavioral health services, the standards adopted by the authority under subsection (5) of this section shall provide for an incentive payment to counties which elect to move to full integration by January 1, 2016. Subject to federal approval, the incentive payment shall be targeted at ten percent of savings realized by the state within the regional service area in which the fully integrated purchasing takes place. Savings shall be calculated in alignment with the outcome and performance measures established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025, and incentive payments for early adopter counties shall be made available for up to a six-year period, or until full integration of medical and behavioral health services is accomplished statewide, whichever comes sooner, according to rules to be developed by the authority.

Sec. 10. RCW 71.24.420 and 2018 c 201 s 4027 are each amended to read as follows:

The authority shall operate the community mental health service delivery system authorized under this chapter within the following constraints:

(1) The full amount of federal funds for mental health services, plus qualifying state expenditures as appropriated in the biennial operating budget, shall be appropriated to the authority each year in the biennial appropriations act to carry out the provisions of the community mental health service delivery system authorized in this chapter.

(2) The authority may expend funds defined in subsection (1) of this section in any manner that will effectively accomplish the outcome measures established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act) and 71.36.025 and performance measures linked to those outcomes.

(3) The authority shall implement strategies that accomplish the outcome measures established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025 and performance measures linked to those outcomes.

(4) The authority shall monitor expenditures against the appropriation levels provided for in subsection (1) of this section.

Sec. 11. RCW 74.09.758 and 2014 c 223 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The authority and the department may restructure medicaid procurement of health care services and agreements with managed care systems on a phased basis to better support integrated physical health, mental health, and chemical dependency treatment, consistent with assumptions in Second Substitute Senate Bill No. 6312, Laws of 2014, and recommendations provided by the behavioral health task force. The authority and the department may develop and utilize innovative mechanisms to promote and sustain integrated clinical models of physical and behavioral health care.

(2) The authority and the department may incorporate the following principles into future medicaid procurement efforts aimed at integrating the delivery of physical and behavioral health services:

(a) Medicaid purchasing must support delivery of integrated, person-centered care that addresses the spectrum of individuals' health needs in the context of the communities in which they live and with the availability of care continuity as their health needs change;

(b) Accountability for the client outcomes established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act) and 71.36.025 and performance measures linked to those outcomes;

(c) Medicaid benefit design must recognize that adequate preventive care, crisis intervention, and support services promote a recovery-focused approach;

(d) Evidence-based care interventions and continuous quality improvement must be enforced through contract specifications and performance measures that provide meaningful integration at the patient care level with broadly distributed accountability for results;

(e) Active purchasing and oversight of medicaid managed care contracts is a state responsibility;

(f) A deliberate and flexible system change plan with identified benchmarks to promote system stability, provide continuity of treatment for patients, and protect essential existing behavioral health system infrastructure and capacity; and

(g) Community and organizational readiness are key determinants of implementation timing; a phased approach is therefore desirable.

(3) The principles identified in subsection (2) of this section are not intended to create an individual entitlement to services.

(4) The authority shall increase the use of value-based contracting, alternative quality contracting, and other payment incentives that promote quality, efficiency, cost savings, and health improvement, for medicaid and public employee purchasing. The authority shall also implement additional chronic disease management techniques that reduce the subsequent need for hospitalization or readmissions. It is the intent of the legislature that the reforms the authority implements under this subsection are anticipated to reduce extraneous medical costs, across all medical programs, when fully phased in by fiscal year 2017 to generate budget savings identified in the omnibus appropriations act.

Sec. 12. RCW 74.09.871 and 2018 c 201 s 2007 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Any agreement or contract by the 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((,))and 71.36.005((, 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 (as recodified by this act), 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 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 (as recodified by this act) 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 authority shall adopt rules establishing the solvency requirements and other financial integrity standards for behavioral health organizations. This subsection does not limit the authority of the authority to take action under a contract upon finding that a behavioral health organization's financial status jeopardizes the organization's ability to meet its contractual obligations;

(h) Mechanisms for monitoring performance under the contract and remedies for failure to substantially comply with the requirements of the contract including, but not limited to, financial deductions, termination of the contract, receivership, reprocurement of the contract, and injunctive remedies;

(i) Provisions to maintain the decision-making independence of designated mental health professionals or designated chemical dependency specialists; and

(j) Provisions stating that public funds appropriated by the legislature may not be used to promote or deter, encourage, or discourage employees from exercising their rights under Title 29, chapter 7, subchapter II, United States Code or chapter 41.56 RCW.

(2) The following factors must be given significant weight in any purchasing process:

(a) Demonstrated commitment and experience in serving low-income populations;

(b) Demonstrated commitment and experience serving persons who have mental illness, chemical dependency, or co-occurring disorders;

(c) Demonstrated commitment to and experience with partnerships with county and municipal criminal justice systems, housing services, and other critical support services necessary to achieve the outcomes established in RCW 43.20A.895 (as recodified by this act), 70.320.020, and 71.36.025;

(d) Recognition that meeting enrollees' physical and behavioral health care needs is a shared responsibility of contracted behavioral health organizations, managed health care systems, service providers, the state, and communities;

(e) Consideration of past and current performance and participation in other state or federal behavioral health programs as a contractor; and

(f) The ability to meet requirements established by the authority.

(3) For purposes of purchasing behavioral health services and medical care services for persons eligible for benefits under medicaid, Title XIX of the social security act and for persons not eligible for medicaid, the authority must use regional service areas. The regional service areas must be established by the authority as provided in RCW 74.09.870.

(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 authority's eligibility criteria for mental health and chemical dependency services.

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