This bill amends existing law to allow community mental health providers to operate independently from community mental health programs. Specifically, it modifies RSA 135-C:7 by expanding the definition of entities that can establish community mental health programs to include nonprofit corporations and other organizations that provide clinical mental health services. Additionally, it changes the required services from "psychiatric" to "psychological" screening and evaluation, and mandates that contracts with community mental health programs include performance standards for measuring consumer outcomes and service quality.

Furthermore, the bill introduces a new section, RSA 135-C:7-a, which defines "community mental health provider" as a Medicaid provider that employs licensed mental health practitioners and is responsible for the mental health services it provides. It grants these providers the authority to administer community mental health services independently and to receive Medicaid reimbursement for services deemed medically necessary by qualified professionals. The Department of Health and Human Services is tasked with establishing rules regarding the eligibility and compliance of these community mental health providers. Additionally, a new subparagraph is added to RSA 135-C:10 to include services provided through these community mental health providers. The act is set to take effect 60 days after its passage.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 135-C:7, 135-C:10