The bill establishes the New Hampshire Children's Behavioral Health Association as a nonprofit corporation dedicated to evaluating the costs associated with childhood behavioral health services for children aged 18 and younger. It introduces new definitions such as "assessable coverage," "assessable entity," and "childhood behavioral health services," and outlines the association's responsibilities, including the preparation of articles of association, bylaws, and annual assessments. The governance structure will include a board of directors comprising representatives from various assessable entities, healthcare providers, and state officials. The association will focus on coordinating care for youth with complex behavioral health challenges and ensuring accessibility to services for children under 19 who have assessable coverage, excluding those covered by Medicaid.

Additionally, the bill amends RSA 135-F by inserting a new subdivision that provides a framework for the association, while no specific legal language is deleted. It establishes a childhood behavioral health services fund, funded through assessments from assessable entities, and mandates annual reports to the commissioner of insurance. The bill also requires health insurers to submit comparative analyses of benefits for children aged 0-5 and under 18 to ensure compliance with parity laws. New legal language mandates an analysis of services and factors indicating barriers to care affecting parity, which must be made public as permissible. The bill is set to take effect 60 days after passage, with a fiscal note pending from the relevant departments.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 417-E:1