BILL NUMBER: S9087

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to authorizing
facilities for the care and treatment of the mentally disabled to
provide treatment for the mental health and health care needs of indi-
viduals admitted for a substance use disorder

 
PURPOSE:

Authorizes facilities for the care and treatment of the mentally disa-
bled to provide treatment for the mental health and health care needs of
individuals admitted for a substance use disorder

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Subdivision (f) of section 19.17 of the mental hygiene law,
as amended by section 1 of part K of chapter 58 of the laws of 2009, is
amended to read as follows:

              

(f) Such facilities are authorized to provide treatment for the mental
health and health care needs of individuals admitted for a substance use
disorder, provided, further, that the mental health and health care
services shall be reimbursable by Medicaid and private insurance. Mental
health services shall be provided by a professional whose scope of prac-
tice includes the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.
Health care services shall be provided by a health care professional
whose scope of practice includes diagnosing and treating human responses
to actual or potential health problems.  The office shall consult with
the office of mental health and the department of health to assure that
applicable rules and regulations of such agencies are complied with.
Nothing in this section shall preclude these facilities from trans-
ferring a person to a different facility in the event the person's
mental health or health care needs are deemed to exceed the treatment
capacity of such facility.

3. Effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The NYS Legislature held public hearings exploring the incidence of
mental health disorders among those seeking/receiving substance use
disorder treatment, the barriers to receiving adequate mental health
services while in treatment, and the barriers to integrating mental
health services with substance use disorder treatment.

From the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

  "Many  individuals  who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also
diagnosed with mental disorders, and vice versa. Multiple national popu-
lation surveys have found that about half  of  those  who  experience  a
mental  illness  during their lives will also experience a substance use
disorder and vice versa.L1-Although there are fewer studies on comorbid-
ity among youth, research suggests that adolescents with  substance  use
disorders  also  have high rates of co-occurring mental illness; over 60
percent of adolescents in community-based substance use disorder  treat-
ment programs also meet diagnostic criteria for another mental illness."
The  chief  concerns  voiced  by  advocates  in these hearings were that
mental health services were not integrated with substance  use  disorder
treatment and individuals with dual diagnoses were "ping-ponged" between
different  types  of  facilities  or  simply  refused  admittance  to  a
substance  use  disorder treatment facility. Oftentimes, people success-
fully complete substance abuse  disorder  treatment  but  relapse  after
discharge  as  their  mental  health  issues come to the fore. Then they
resume substance abuse treatment without addressing the underlying caus-
es of addiction. Treating co-occurring mental health  disorders  at  the
same  time  and  in the same place where a person is receiving substance
abuse treatment is designed to  address  this  revolving  door  problem.
Finding separate facilities for the treatment of mental health disorders
is  difficult and inefficient. Mental health treatment can and should be
provided where the person is already receiving treatment  for  substance
abuse.

To  start the process of developing a better plan for treating co-occur-
ring disorders,  the  state-run  addiction  treatment  centers  must  be
authorized  to  treat both conditions. There is no reason they cannot do
so, as psychiatrists, psychologists,  and  others  in  private  practice
already do so. This legislation provides this authorization.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.