§ 27-60-203. Behavioral Health Administration – Plan for Creation – Proposed Duties – Timeline

1. 1. On or before November 1, 2021, based on the September 2020 recommendations from the Colorado behavioral health task force, the state department shall develop a plan for the creation of the behavioral health administration. The plan must include strategies to streamline and improve efforts that address behavioral health needs in the state and reduce behavioral health disparities.
   2. The state department shall solicit feedback from and engage with demographically diverse community stakeholders in the development of the plan described in this section. This includes, but is not limited to, direct engagement of consumers and consumers’ advocates, county governments, municipal governments, tribal governments, managed service organizations, health care providers, managed care entities, insurance carriers, community mental health centers, and substance use disorder services providers.
   3. On or before November 1, 2021, the state department shall provide the plan as a written report to the joint budget committee, the public and behavioral and human services committee of the house of representatives, and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees.
2. The plan must include, but is not limited to, the following:
   1. Recommendations for funding and legislation necessary to appropriately implement the plan and address initial start-up as well as ongoing operational costs for the BHA;
   2. A list and description of which state programs, both statutory and nonstatutory, along with the associated funding streams and personnel, that should be included or managed by the BHA. The list must specifically address all the functions currently overseen by the office of behavioral health in the state department of human services.
   3. The governance structure of the BHA, including a recommendation for infrastructure within any governance structure to oversee and be accountable for policy, strategy, and services for all children and youth;
   4. Potential opportunities for collaboration with local municipalities, counties, and tribes;
   5. Recommendations for a plan of action regarding grievances, appeals, and ombudsman services within the BHA;
   6. A data integration plan to create a data and information sharing and legal framework to support an agreed-upon approach and specific use case for information sharing that leverages existing infrastructure, such as health information exchanges, reusable architecture, and data standards to enable and advance coordinated care and services and behavioral health equity while maintaining tribal sovereignty;
   7. A description of how the BHA will ensure the availability of services and establish a standard of care across Colorado; and
   8. Specific recommendations as follows:
      1. Recommendations for the department of health care policy and financing, developed in collaboration with community stakeholders, on how medical assistance programs for behavioral health should be aligned or integrated with the BHA in such a way that consumers of behavioral health services have seamless access to needed services regardless of payer. The recommendations must include a description of how the BHA will ensure that access to services deemed medically necessary pursuant to the early and period screening, diagnostic, and treatment benefit is arranged for eligible children and youth.
      2. Recommendations for the division of insurance within the department of regulatory agencies, developed in collaboration with the community stakeholders, concerning how private insurance efforts that are specific to behavioral health should be aligned or integrated with the BHA; and
      3. Recommendations for the department of public health and environment, developed in collaboration with the community stakeholders, concerning how prevention and preventive services should be aligned or integrated with the BHA and the extent to which the BHA will engage in population health.
3. The duties of the BHA, once established and fully operational, must include, but are not limited to:
   1. Serving as the single state agency responsible for state behavioral health programs that were identified as appropriate to transition into the BHA;
   2. Receiving, coordinating, and distributing appropriate community behavioral health funding throughout the state;
   3. Monitoring, evaluating, and reporting behavioral health outcomes across the state and within various jurisdictions, while maintaining tribal sovereignty; and
   4. Promoting a behavioral health system that supports a whole-person approach to ensure Coloradans have the best chance to achieve and maintain wellness. This approach includes:
      1. Promoting an integrated approach to mental health and substance use treatment;
      2. Strengthening the integration of behavioral and physical care;
      3. Enhancing programmatic and funding opportunities in support of the overall well-being of the individual or family;
      4. Promoting culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and equitable behavioral health care; and
      5. Promoting coordination of supportive services outside of the behavioral health system to address social determinants of health, and to connect people to services such as housing, transportation, and employment.
4. The state department shall work collaboratively with the department of health care policy and financing, community stakeholders, and other state departments, as appropriate, to promulgate rules for the BHA to provide adequate oversight of the quality of services and set standards of care for services for adults as well as children and youth.
5. 1. On or before July 1, 2022, the behavioral health administration is established in the state department. During the time it takes for the BHA to become fully operational, it remains a part of the state department until a determination is made by the general assembly concerning the department it will be permanently located in.
   2. On or before November 1, 2024, the state department shall provide a report to the joint budget committee, the public and behavioral health and human services committee of the house of representatives, and the health and human services committee of the senate, or any successor committees, concerning recommendations on whether the BHA should remain in the state department or be transferred to a different department within the state.
   3. If the general assembly takes no additional legislative action on or before June 30, 2025, the BHA will remain in the state department.

Source: L. 2021: Entire part added, (HB 21-1097), ch. 48, p. 201, § 1, effective April 22.