ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 291
BY REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the changes necessary to
increase access to outpatient substance use treatment, including medication-assisted
treatment (MAT), as well as recommendations for creating sustainable incentives
and supports for providers to serve as office-based opioid agonist treatment providers
and to report the findings of the study to the House Committee on Health and
Welfare on or before March 1, 2020.
WHEREAS, regular outpatient rehabilitation treatment focuses on providing patients
with access to care and support for addiction recovery in a nonresidential setting; and
WHEREAS, typically those entering outpatient substance abuse treatment have
already completed a residential program or received treatment through an intensive
outpatient or partial hospitalization treatment program or facility; and
WHEREAS, outpatient substance abuse treatment provides those recovering from
addiction with much-needed support as they transition back into their everyday lives; and
WHEREAS, relapse is most common right after an individual exits residential
treatment.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the changes necessary to
increase access to outpatient substance use treatment, including medication-assisted
treatment (MAT), as well as recommendations for creating sustainable incentives and
supports for providers to serve as office-based opioid agonist treatment providers.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the study shall consider all of the following:
(1) Preferred provider designation: establish a designation of high-quality
care for outpatient substance use disorder services. This designation should include
practices that, at a minimum, include a buprenorphine-waivered physician who can
prescribe buprenorphine and naltrexone in a variety of office-based practice settings
and opioid treatment providers, which have onsite partnerships with behavioral
health practitioners who provide counseling to patients receiving MAT.
(2) Payment for care coordination services: explore Medicaid reimbursement
for care coordination to preferred outpatient providers that provide buprenorphine
induction and maintenance and behavioral health counseling either onsite, or through
partnerships. Care coordinators should be expected to establish referral networks
with providers of all American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) levels of
care, physical health providers, obstetrician-gynecologists, and to support patients
in accessing needed recovery supports. Also, explore Medicaid reimbursement for
care coordination to facilitate emergency department initiation of MAT and
transition to community-based care upon release.
(3) Evaluation of reimbursement rates: rates for services associated with
delivering MAT should be reviewed and compared to commercial rates. Rates for
assessment, induction, and maintenance, and behavioral health counseling should be
sufficient to encourage provider participation.
(4) Statewide provider education and outreach: provide education about
changes made to engage providers in the treatment of opioid use disorder. This shall
include training and outreach in partnership with local governing entities and
statewide provider associations that include MAT-specific courses, buprenorphine
waiver training, integration of the ASAM criteria, and establishing billing practices
for Medicaid reimbursement.
(5) Value-based purchasing: implementation of value-based purchasing in
the Medicaid managed care contracts to provide funding to hospitals that employ
case management teams or other measures to reduce substance use disorder-related
hospital readmissions.
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study be completed and a written report be
submitted to the House Committee on Health and Welfare on or before March 1, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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