LCO No. 1357 1 of 4
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 141
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1357
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT DESIGNATING THE DEPARTMENT OF MEN TAL HEALTH
AND ADDICTION SERVIC ES A SINGLE HEALTH CARE ENTITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-450 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) There shall be a Department of Mental Health and Addiction 3
Services headed by a Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction 4
Services, appointed by the Governor with the advice of the Board of 5
Mental Health and Addiction Services established pursuant to section 6
17a-456. 7
(b) For the purposes of chapter 48, the Department of Mental Health 8
and Addiction Services shall be organized to promote comprehensive, 9
client-based services in the areas of mental health treatment and 10
substance abuse treatment and to ensure the programmatic integrity 11
and clinical identity of services in each area. The department shall 12
perform the functions of: Centralized administration, planning and 13
program development; prevention and treatment programs and 14
facilities, both inpatient and outpatient, for persons with psychiatric 15 Raised Bill No. 141
LCO No. 1357 2 of 4
disabilities or persons with substance use disorders, or both; community 16
mental health centers and community or regional programs and 17
facilities providing services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or 18
persons with substance use disorders, or both; training and education; 19
and research and evaluation of programs and facilities providing 20
services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with 21
substance use disorders, or both. The department shall include, but not 22
be limited to, the following divisions and facilities or their successor 23
facilities: The office of the Commissioner of Mental Health and 24
Addiction Services; Capitol Region Mental Health Center; Connecticut 25
Valley Hospital, including the Addictions Division and the General 26
Psychiatric Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital; the Whiting 27
Forensic Hospital; the Connecticut Mental Health Center; Ribicoff 28
Research Center; the Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System, 29
including the Franklin S. DuBois Center and the Greater Bridgeport 30
Community Mental Health Center; the Southeastern Mental Health 31
Authority; River Valley Services; the Western Connecticut Mental 32
Health Network; and any other state-operated facility for the treatment 33
of persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with substance use 34
disorders, or both, but shall not include those portions of such facilities 35
transferred to the Department of Children and Families for the purpose 36
of consolidation of children's services. All department divisions and 37
facilities shall provide their patient records to the electronic health 38
record system established pursuant to subdivision (7) of subsection (c) 39
of this section. Disclosures of patient information from the electronic 40
health record system outside of the department shall be in accordance 41
with applicable federal and state law. 42
(c) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services may: 43
(1) Solicit and accept for use any gift of money or property made by 44
will or otherwise, and any grant of money, services or property from the 45
federal government, the state or any political subdivision thereof or any 46
private source, and do all things necessary to cooperate with the federal 47
government or any of its agencies in making an application for any 48
grant; 49 Raised Bill No. 141
LCO No. 1357 3 of 4
(2) Keep records and engage in research and the gathering of relevant 50
statistics; 51
(3) Work with public or private agencies, organizations, facilities or 52
individuals to ensure the operation of the programs set forth in 53
accordance with sections 17a-75 to 17a-83, inclusive, 17a-450 to [17a-484] 54
17a-488a, inclusive, 17a-495 to 17a-528, inclusive, 17a-540 to 17a-550, 55
inclusive, 17a-560 to 17a-575, inclusive, 17a-580 to 17a-603, inclusive, 56
and 17a-615 to 17a-618, inclusive; 57
(4) Hold hearings, issue subpoenas, administer oaths, compel 58
testimony and order production of books, papers and records in the 59
performance of its duties; 60
(5) Operate trustee accounts, in accordance with procedures 61
prescribed by the Comptroller, on behalf of inpatient and outpatient 62
department clients; 63
(6) Notwithstanding [any] the provisions of sections 4-101 and 17b-64
239, [to the contrary,] establish medical reimbursement rates for 65
behavioral health services including, but not limited to, inpatient, 66
outpatient and residential services purchased by the department; [and] 67
(7) Establish and utilize an electronic health record system that allows 68
authorized department personnel to have access to patient health 69
information, including psychiatric records from any of the department's 70
divisions and facilities set forth in subsection (b) of this section for 71
purposes of (A) providing diagnosis and treatment, and (B) improving 72
the department's health care operations, as defined in 42 CFR 164.501. 73
[(7)] (8) Perform such other acts and functions as may be necessary or 74
convenient to execute the authority expressly granted to it. 75
(d) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is 76
designated as the lead state agency for substance abuse prevention and 77
treatment in this state, and as such is designated as the state methadone 78
authority. As the designated state methadone authority, the department 79 Raised Bill No. 141
LCO No. 1357 4 of 4
is authorized by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of 80
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within 81
the United States Department of Health and Human Services to exercise 82
responsibility and authority for the treatment of opiate addiction with 83
an opioid medication, and specifically for: (1) Approval of exceptions to 84
federal opioid treatment protocols in accordance with the Center for 85
Substance Abuse Treatment, (2) monitoring all opioid treatment 86
programs in the state, and (3) approval of Center for Substance Abuse 87
Treatment certification of all opioid treatment programs in the state. The 88
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services may adopt 89
regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the provisions of 90
this subsection. 91
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 17a-450
Statement of Purpose:
To allow the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to
use one electronic health record system that all clinical staff can use for
documentation across all Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services clinics and hospitals.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]