O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 21-113—HB 5597
Public Health Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING OP IOIDS
SUMMARY: This act requires the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services (DMHAS) to establish a pilot program in up to five urban, suburban, and
rural communities to serve individuals with opioid use disorder. The department
must do this by January 1, 2022, and within available appropriations.
Under the act, each participating community must form a team of at least two
peer navigators who must, among other things, (1) travel throughout the
community to address the health care and social needs of individuals with opioid
use disorder and (2) complete regularly updated training on non-coercive and
non-stigmatizing methods for engaging these individuals, as determined by the
DMHAS commissioner.
The act also requires the DMHAS commissioner to report by January 1, 2023,
to the Public Health Committee on the pilot program, including its success and
any recommendations for its continuation or expansion.
Additionally, the act requires the Department of Public Health commissioner,
by January 1, 2022, to (1) establish guidelines for the use of evidence-based,
nonpharmaceutical therapies to treat chronic pain, including chiropractic
treatment and physical therapy, and (2) conduct educational and outreach
activities to raise awareness about these guidelines.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
PEER NAVIGATORS
The act requires each community participating in the pilot program to form a
team of at least two peer navigators to work to:
1. increase engagement between individuals with opioid use disorder and
treatment, healthcare, and social services providers;
2. improve these individuals’ retention in opioid use disorder treatment by
addressing their social determinants of health and emerging local
conditions that affect these determinants; and
3. increase the community’s capacity to support these individuals by
identifying and addressing systemic barriers to treatment, health care, and
social services and social support.
The act requires the team of peer navigators to (1) travel throughout the
community to address in-person the health care and social needs of individuals
with opioid use disorder and (2) be accessible to these individuals through a
phone number with texting capabilities and social media.
Under the act, a “peer navigator” is a person with experience working with
individuals with substance use disorder who (1) provides nonmedical mental O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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health care and substance use services and (2) has a collaborative relationship
with health care professionals authorized to prescribe medications to treat opioid
use disorder.