1. Public Policy Director
Public Policy
85 R Legislative News
Janie Metzinger
Public Policy Director
Joey Campain
Public Policy Intern

2. Restored to North Texas Behavioral Health Authority:
Amount
Notes
$8.1 M
Restored to North Texas Behavioral Health Authority:
Continuation of services to Dallas, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, and Rockwall Counties. 5,735 would have lost care if not passed.
$62.6 M
Waiting list reduction for community-based services
$30 M
Matching grants for community-based healthcare H.B. 13
$667 k
Grant to address violence in the healthcare workplace H.B. 280, funded with license fee increase
$3.5 M
Peer-to-Peer services authorized in H.B. 1486
$9.4 M
Matching grants to reduce recidivism, arrest, and incarceration of patients with mental illness S.B. 292
$2 M
Rehabilitative services for children in foster care
$7.8 M
Mental health treatment for children in Child Protective Services
$38 M
Maintain current state hospital capacity
Budget – S.B. 1

3. Budget 2018-2019 – S.B. 1 Amount Notes $10.3 M
Amount
Notes
$10.3 M
Increase maximum security state hospital bed capacity
$300 M
State hospital construction and planning
$20.7 M
Additional psychiatric hospital beds in local communities
$160 M
Deferred maintenance at state hospitals and state-supported living centers
$1.74 M
Clubhouses
$55 M
Substance abuse treatment
Budget – S.B. 1

4.
H.B. 10 – Price
Expands Texas Department of Insurance’s (TDI) authority to include parity protections for all fully insured plans. Includes limitations on:
Number of visits an injured person is allowed
Pre-authorization requirements
Restrictive formularies
Determinations of usual, reasonable, and customary charges
Fail first policies
Step therapy protocols
Authorizes Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to appoint an ombudsman for behavioral health access to care
Creates a mental health and substance use disorder stakeholder work group
Requires HHSC and TDI to gather data regarding the denial rate of mental health services to better understand parity issues
Parity

5.
H.B. 13 – Price
Creates a matching grant for community-based mental healthcare. $30 Million
H.B. 280 – Howard
Provides for grants to hospitals and other health facilities to foster innovation in reducing the severity and frequency of workplace violence.
Grants would be funded using existing revenue from nursing license and renewal applications
Grants

6. Reducing Recidivism H.B. 377 – Collier
H.B. 377 – Collier
Prevents loss of Medicaid eligibility due to incarceration in a county jail regardless of conviction.
Provides a mechanism to suspend Medicaid coverage, instead of termination. Coverage can be reinstated within 48 hours of being released from county jail, as long as the individual remains eligible.
S.B. 292 – Huffman
Creates a grant program to reduce recidivism, incarceration, and frequency of arrests among people with mental illness.
Reduce waiting times for commitment to a state hospital
Collaborations must include: county, local mental health authority, and hospital district
$9.4 Million in grants to 20 most populous counties via formula funding based on mental illnesses among people 200% of poverty
Counties that do not meet criteria must apply to receive funding
Reducing Recidivism

7. Public Safety S.B. 1849 – Whitmire
S.B – Whitmire
Shortens deadlines by which a sheriff must provide a notice to the magistrate of any case of mental illness from 72 hours to 12 hours
Amends Government code to include persons with substance abuse issues to receive help from Department of State Health and Human Services
Gives consideration to grant awards to collaborations between counties of 100,000 people or less
Requires that prisoners have access to tele-mental health care services 24 hours a day. If not available, external access required
Outlines cell camera use standards
Establishes standards regarding prescriptions used upon arrest
Establishes a fund to make improvements for prisons <96 prisoners
Requires TCOLE to approve an examination for a jail administrator
Requires provisions for law enforcement officer training curriculum
Public Safety

8. Public Safety S.B. 1849 – Continued
S.B – Continued
Amends Code of Criminal Procedure to revise requirements for a law enforcement agency’s written policy on racial profiling
Requires analysis of review of traffic stops for possible policy changes
Requires analysis of the feasibility of equipping officers with body cameras
Expands funding for video equipment for use as body cameras
S.B. 344 – West
Allows local governments to establish memorandums of understanding to allow emergency medical services to transport persons in a mental health crisis if deemed a appropriate by a peace officer
Allows transport in an ambulance instead of a police car
Facilitates a pilot project in Dallas to create a mental health response team
Public Safety

9. Insurance/Access to Care
S.B – S. Thompson
Expands the number of allowable mental health screenings for youth from years old from one screening during the six years to one screening per year
Allows reconsideration of a screen if results are not being seen after a year
H.B – S. Davis
Promotes increased screening for Postpartum depression by creating a screening benefit for mothers of current Children’s Health Insurance Plan and Medicaid enrolles
H.B – Price
Requires HHSC to adopt rules pertaining to peer specialists and peer services, establish a related work group, and submit a report to the Governor, Lt. Governor, and others if rules are not adopted
Insurance/Access to Care

10. Substance Abuse S.B. 584 – West
S.B. 584 – West
Amends Occupations Code to require the Texas Medical Board to adopt guidelines for prescription of opioid antagonists to patients with current prescriptions and are at risk of overdose
Exempts a physician who acts in good faith and with reasonable care, regardless of whether they followed the guidelines, from criminal or civil liability or professional disciplinary action for prescribing or failing to prescribe an opioid antagonist or any eventual outcomes of prescription
Substance Abuse

11. Crafted by the Public Policy Team of MHA Dallas
Crafted by the Public Policy Team of MHA Dallas