SLS 24RS-592 ORIGINAL
2024 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 23
BY SENATOR BARROW
HEALTH DEPARTMENT. To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to
study behavioral health demand and access.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to perform a comprehensive study
3 on access to behavioral health services across the state.
4 WHEREAS, Louisiana is experiencing a mental health crisis, with over three million
5 people in the state of Louisiana living in communities that lack a sufficient number of mental
6 and behavioral health providers; and
7 WHEREAS, the opioid epidemic and the mental health crisis have contributed to an
8 increase in overdoses, suicides, and depression in the past two decades; and
9 WHEREAS, although behavioral health needs have increased, the number of
10 individuals receiving behavioral health services has not; and
11 WHEREAS, a 2023 report issued by the National Center for Health Workforce
12 Analysis, projects the shortage of addiction counselors, marriage and family therapists,
13 mental health counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists will continue to intensify for the
14 foreseeable future; and
15 WHEREAS, cost to patients, low reimbursement rates and administrative burdens
16 for behavioral health providers participating in insurance plans, and lack of coverage for
17 certain behavioral health provider types all contribute to the behavioral health workforce
18 shortage; and
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SLS 24RS-592 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, Louisiana needs to identify ways to increase its behavioral health
2 workforce and address provider and patient-level barriers.
3 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
4 urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to perform a comprehensive study on
5 access to behavioral health services across the state and to report the findings and
6 recommendations from the study to the legislature no later than February 1, 2025.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall work in conjunction with
8 the Board of Regents, Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, Louisiana State Board
9 of Examiners of Psychologists, Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of
10 Examiners, and Addictive Disorders Regulatory Authority Board to complete the study.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study shall provide information and
12 recommendations on the following:
13 (1) Current behavioral health services covered by the Medicaid managed care
14 organizations and private insurance companies.
15 (2) The status of education programs for future behavioral health providers currently
16 offered in Louisiana.
17 (3) The capacity for higher education institutions to increase educational
18 opportunities for providers.
19 (4) Strategies for increasing access to behavioral health services in rural areas of the
20 state.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health shall submit
22 a written report of its findings and recommendations to the legislature no later than February
23 1, 2025.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
25 secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, the commissioner of higher education, the
26 executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, the executive director
27 of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, the executive director of the
28 Louisiana Licensed Professional Counselors Board of Examiners, and the executive director
29 of the Addictive Disorders Regulatory Authority Board.
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SLS 24RS-592 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Amanda Trapp.
DIGEST
SCR 23 Original 2024 Regular Session Barrow
Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to perform a comprehensive study on access
to behavioral health services across the state.
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