Bill Text: NJ S3520 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes commission to study integration of behavioral health services into DOH.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-11-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S3520 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S3520-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT M. GORDON
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes commission to study integration of behavioral health services into DOH.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing the "New Jersey Commission on Integration of Behavioral Health Services" to study and make recommendations concerning the potential integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares:
a. The State has advanced initiatives that integrate behavioral health care with physical health care, and recognizes that increased integration of primary physical healthcare with mental healthcare and addiction treatment is needed to break down barriers in the administration and delivery of healthcare, to effectively address the crisis of opioid addiction that is occurring in the State, and to eliminate any social stigma that may still exist with regard to behavioral health.
b. Any proposed integration of behavioral health services from the Department of Human Services into the Department of Health must be done carefully, deliberately, and only following a comprehensive data-driven study of the potential benefits and drawbacks of such integration, as well as an assessment of the regulatory, administrative, capacity, and payment issues that impede integration, and the means by which these impediments may be addressed.
c. Testimony receiving during the joint meeting of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Assembly Human Services Committee on July 25, 2017, expressed concern that the proposed transfer of the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services to the Department of Health, if done hastily and without due study and deliberation, is problematic and that such inter-agency transfers are often fraught with conflict and may actually result in a disservice to the very individuals the integration aims to assist.
d. A commission composed of private-sector members, the Commissioners of Health and Human Services, subject matter experts, and other representatives of the behavioral health community to study the proposed integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health would greatly inform the Legislature and the Governor on how to best advance the integration of behavioral health care with physical primary health care in the State.
2. There is hereby established the "New Jersey Commission on Integration of Behavioral Health Services," to study the potential integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health from the Department of Human Services, and to provide recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the achievement of greater inter-agency and inter-departmental coordination, the surmounting of financial and regulatory obstacles to integration, and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of vital behavioral health care and services to all populations served during and following any integration.
a. The commission shall consist of 15 members as follows: the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Human Services, and 12 public members who shall be either expert in behavioral health or health policy, a representative of an advocacy organization or a representative of a provider organization in the mental health, addiction, or developmental disabilities fields. Three of the public members shall be appointed by the Governor, five public members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, and five public members shall be appointed by the President of the Senate.
b. The members shall serve until the commission submits its final report to the Governor and the Legislature. Any vacancy in the membership of the commission shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment was made.
c. The commission shall organize as soon as practicable after the appointment of a majority of its members. Upon its organization, the commission shall select a chairperson from among its members. The commission may meet and hold meetings at the times and places it may designate. A majority of the authorized members shall constitute a quorum. The commission may conduct business without a quorum, but may only vote on a recommendation when a quorum is present.
d. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be eligible for reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties within the limits of fund appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission for its purposes. The commission shall be entitled to and avail itself of the assistance and services of any State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency, as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.
e. Not later than 180 days after the initial meeting of the commission, it shall prepare and submit a report with its recommendations, to the Governor, and to the Legislature in accordance with section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the potential integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health from the Department of Human Services.
3. This act shall take
effect immediately and shall expire upon the submission by the commission of
its written report to the Governor and the Legislature as provided in
subsection e. of section 2 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the "New Jersey Commission on Integration of Behavioral Health Services," to study the potential integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health from the Department of Human Services, and to provide recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature concerning the achievement of greater inter-agency and inter-departmental coordination, the surmounting of financial and regulatory obstacles to integration, and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of vital behavioral health care and services to all populations served during and following any integration.
The bill provides that the commission consist of 15 members as follows: the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Human Services, and twelve public members who shall be either expert in behavioral health or health policy, a representative of an advocacy organization or a representative of a provider organization in the mental health, addiction, or developmental disabilities fields. Three of the public members shall be appointed by the Governor, five public members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, and five public members shall be appointed by the President of the Senate.
The bill also requires that the commission organize as soon as practicable after the appointment of a majority of its members and select a chairperson from among its members. The bill provides that the commission may meet and hold meetings at the times and places it may designate, that a majority of the authorized members shall constitute a quorum, and while the commission may conduct business without a quorum, it may only vote on a recommendation when a quorum is present.
The bill requires that not later than 180 days after the initial meeting of the commission, the commission is to prepare and submit a report with its recommendations, to the Governor, and to the Legislature in accordance with section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), on the potential integration of behavioral health services into the Department of Health from the Department of Human Services.
