2019 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 84
BY SENATORS APPEL, PETERSON AND GARY SMITH AND REPRESENTATIVES
BAGLEY, BILLIOT, CONNICK, GISCLAIR, HENRY, HILFERTY,
HOFFMANN, LEOPOLD, MCMAHEN, DUSTIN MILLER, MOORE,
STAGNI, STOKES AND TURNER
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take all steps necessary to
approve peer support services as a Medicaid covered service.
WHEREAS, peer support services are a United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration best practice
wherein a peer support specialist that has personal experience with mental illness or
addictive disorder provides an array of personal recipient care; and
WHEREAS, peer support services include sharing personal experiences to engage
service recipients in their recovery and advocating on their behalf when necessary,
facilitating support groups, helping those in recovery navigate community resources, and
participating in care coordination team efforts to help service recipients meet their recovery
goals and avoid relapse; and
WHEREAS, in 1999 Georgia implemented Medicaid peer support services and based
on demonstrated outcomes, by 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
issued guidance to states endorsing the provision of peer support services; and
WHEREAS, CMS has approved Medicaid reimbursement for peer support services
in thirty-nine states; and
WHEREAS, data from states where peer support services are covered by Medicaid
have demonstrated a quantifiable reduction in hospitalization rates, substance abuse, and
recipient involvement in the criminal justice system; and
WHEREAS, as of February 2019, there were one million five hundred thousand
people enrolled in Louisiana Medicaid whose care is being managed by Medicaid managed
care organizations that are paid a per member per month rate for the provision of services,
including behavioral healthcare; and
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WHEREAS, it is reported that in February 2019, sixteen thousand Medicaid
recipients received specialized substance abuse residential services at an average cost of two
hundred fifteen dollars per day and eighteen thousand adults received inpatient mental health
services at a psychiatric facility at an average cost of five hundred ninety-five dollars per
day, which is significantly higher than the cost that would be incurred for the provision of
peer support services for the same population; and
WHEREAS, data from states currently providing Medicaid reimbursement for peer
support services demonstrate an average of four dollars and fifty cents per fifteen minute
increment for group services and an average of fifteen dollars per fifteen minute increment
for individual services, which compared to the costs of residential and inpatient services
could yield significant cost savings for Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to take all steps necessary to approve
peer support services as a Medicaid covered service.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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