SFC/SB 3
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AN ACT
RELATING TO HEALTH; ENACTING THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH REFORM AND
INVESTMENT ACT; REPEALING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the
"Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act".
SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Behavioral
Health Reform and Investment Act:
A. "behavioral health region" means a geographic
area of the state that is designated in accordance with
Subsection B of Section 3 of the Behavioral Health Reform and
Investment Act and encompasses one or more counties or
judicial districts;
B. "behavioral health services" means a
comprehensive array of professional and ancillary services
for the treatment, rehabilitation, prevention and
identification of mental illnesses and substance misuse,
including telemedicine;
C. "behavioral health stakeholders" means
representatives from the administrative office of the courts,
the public defender department, the district attorney's
office in the behavioral health region, behavioral health
service recipients, behavioral health service providers,
behavioral health care advocates, the health care authority, SFC/SB 3
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the department of health, the children, youth and families
department, the university of New Mexico health sciences
center, higher education institutions within behavioral
health regions, Indian nations, tribes and pueblos, local and
regional governments and other appropriate state or local
agencies or nongovernmental entities, including school
districts, local and regional law enforcement agencies, local
jails or detention centers, behavioral health associations
and local behavioral health collaboratives;
D. "continuity of care plan" means a plan
identifying the interrelationship of available and
prospective behavioral health services for recipients to
ensure consistent and coordinated services over time;
E. "disproportionately impacted community" means a
community or population of people for which multiple burdens,
including mental, substance misuse and physical stressors,
inequity, poverty, limited behavioral health services and
high unemployment, may act to persistently and negatively
affect the health and well-being of the community or
population;
F. "generally recognized standards for behavioral
health" means standards of care and clinical practice
established by evidence-based sources, including clinical
practice guidelines and recommendations from mental health
and substance misuse care provider professional associations SFC/SB 3
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and relevant federal government agencies, that are generally
recognized by providers practicing in relevant clinical
specialties, including:
(1) psychiatry;
(2) psychology;
(3) social work;
(4) clinical counseling;
(5) addiction medicine and counseling;
(6) family and marriage counseling;
(7) public health officials; and
(8) certified peer support workers;
G. "regional meeting" means a meeting held by
behavioral health stakeholders at a government-owned or
-operated facility within a behavioral health region;
H. "regional plan" means a plan that is developed
collaboratively by behavioral health stakeholders to provide
behavioral health services to a behavioral health region; and
I. "sequential intercept mapping" means a
strategic planning tool that helps communities identify
resources and gaps and develop plans to divert people with
mental health disorders and substance misuse away from the
criminal justice system and into treatment.
SECTION 3. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.--
A. The "behavioral health executive committee" is
created and shall be composed of: SFC/SB 3
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(1) the secretary of health care authority;
(2) the director of the behavioral health
services division of the health care authority, who shall
chair the committee;
(3) the director of the medical assistance
division of the health care authority;
(4) the director of the administrative
office of the courts; and
(5) three behavioral health experts
designated by the director of the administrative office of
the courts.
B. The behavioral health executive committee
shall:
(1) designate behavioral health regions;
(2) review and approve regional plans;
(3) establish funding strategies and
structure based on approved regional plans;
(4) monitor and track deliverables and
expenditures and address deficiencies and implementation
issues of regional plans; and
(5) establish a project management strategy
that shall be led by a project manager at the health care
authority.
C. The behavioral health executive committee shall
convene at least quarterly. Meetings of the committee shall SFC/SB 3
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be subject to the Open Meetings Act; provided that executive
sessions are permitted when considering confidential or
sensitive information.
D. The behavioral health executive committee shall
report on a quarterly basis to the legislative finance
committee on the implementation status of the regional plans.
SECTION 4. REGIONAL PLAN--SEQUENTIAL INTERCEPT MAPPING
--REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.--
A. The administrative office of the courts shall
coordinate regional meetings, complete sequential intercept
mapping and coordinate the development of regional plans. If
behavioral health stakeholders request to participate in the
development of a regional plan, the administrative office of
the courts shall include those stakeholders in the
development of the plan. If requested by the administrative
office of the courts, behavioral health stakeholders shall
provide support in coordinating regional meetings. The
health care authority shall verify that nothing in a proposed
regional plan jeopardizes the state medicaid program, and if
something in the regional plan does jeopardize the state
medicaid program, that section of the regional plan is void.
B. A behavioral health stakeholder receiving
appropriations pursuant to the Behavioral Health Reform and
Investment Act shall participate in regional meetings,
provide substantive expertise, develop relevant portions of SFC/SB 3
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the regional plans, submit annual reports based on those
plans and share relevant data as requested by a legislative
interim committee, the administrative office of the courts or
the health care authority.
C. For fiscal years 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, the
administrative office of the courts and the health care
authority shall collaborate to utilize current data to
identify gaps in any existing sequential intercept mapping
and supplement the mapping to ensure complete behavioral
health coverage prior to regional plan finalization. Nothing
in this subsection shall prevent the development of regional
plans prior to the finalization of the sequential intercept
mapping. Any grant or funding awards are contingent on
finalized regional plans; provided that those regional plans
shall be updated upon the completion of sequential intercept
mapping.
D. A regional plan shall:
(1) include a phased implementation
addressing behavioral health service gaps, including the
continuation and expansion of behavioral health services;
(2) identify no more than five grants or
state-funded priorities per phase; provided that additional
priorities can be identified if the health care authority
determines that the service gaps in a behavioral health
region are large enough to warrant more priorities; SFC/SB 3
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(3) identify local resources that may help
offset part of the costs associated with each funding
priority;
(4) provide a time line and performance
measures for each funding priority that include a plan for
developing data collection and infrastructure, performance
measures, feasibility analysis and a sustainability plan;
(5) provide a continuity of care plan for
the region;
(6) consider the need for language access
for behavioral health services in the region;
(7) when appropriate, establish a plan to
obtain federal, local or private resources to advance a
regional priority;
(8) identify a capable and accountable entity
to execute regional plans; provided that different entities
may be accountable for each identified regional funding
priority;
(9) include an appendix with a list of all
behavioral service providers in the behavioral health region;
and
(10) identify how regional plans will
optimize, leverage or reinforce coordination with the state
medicaid program as the primary payor of behavioral health
services. SFC/SB 3
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E. The administrative office of the courts shall
distribute each regional plan to the legislature and the
appropriate state agencies.
F. The health care authority, in consultation with
the legislative finance committee and the legislative health
and human services committee, shall determine baseline data
collection points to be collected and reported in all reports
subject to Subsection G of this section.
G. Beginning no later than June 30, 2027 and by
every June 30 thereafter, the behavioral health executive
committee shall designate a government entity within each
behavioral health region to provide a written report to the
legislature and the judicial and executive branches of
government that includes:
(1) the status of the implementation of each
regional plan and sequential intercept mapping;
(2) available data on performance measures
included in each regional plan;
(3) public feedback on the implementation of
each regional plan;
(4) uniform responses to data requests made
by a legislative committee, the administrative office of the
courts or an executive agency;
(5) a list of qualified and certified
behavioral health service providers in each region that SFC/SB 3
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provide services described in the Behavioral Health Reform
and Investment Act; and
(6) recommendations on successes, gaps and
needs to better provide behavioral health care services.
H. Starting May 1, 2025, and continuing through
December 31, 2025, the administrative office of the courts
shall provide the appropriate interim legislative committees
and the health care authority a monthly update on the status
of sequential intercept mapping and regional planning. After
January 1, 2026, the administrative office of the courts
shall provide quarterly updates on the status of sequential
intercept mapping and regional planning to the legislature
and the health care authority. The behavioral health
executive committee shall provide the legislature quarterly
updates on the implementation of regional plans starting when
the regional plans begin to be implemented.
I. Higher education institutions within behavioral
health regions shall coordinate with the health care
authority, the workforce solutions department and other
behavioral health stakeholders to create a behavioral health
workforce pipeline for the behavioral health services
identified within regional plans. A behavioral health
workforce pipeline may include:
(1) pathways for people with lived
experience to enter the behavioral health workforce; SFC/SB 3
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(2) in-state and national recruitment of
behavioral health professionals;
(3) increased awareness of behavioral health
careers within middle and high schools in the region;
(4) optimization of state funding to enhance
or create behavioral health educational opportunities within
the behavioral health region; and
(5) making recommendations to the
legislature to better address the behavioral health workforce
needs of the region.
J. As New Mexico's single state authority, the
behavioral health services division of the health care
authority shall continue to oversee the adult behavioral
health system, including programming and rulemaking. Nothing
in the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act shall be
interpreted to imply anything to the contrary. The health
care authority remains the primary designated federal entity
for the state medicaid program.
SECTION 5. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICE STANDARDS.--
A. By June 1, 2025, the health care authority, in
consultation with other state agencies that have behavioral
health programs, shall provide the administrative office of
the courts with an initial set of generally recognized
standards for behavioral health services for adoption and
implementation in regional plans and any behavioral health SFC/SB 3
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service access priorities or gaps in the regions. The
standards may be amended or updated to ensure that best
practices of behavioral health services are delivered. The
health care authority shall confirm whether or not each
regional plan meets the behavioral health standards as set
forth in the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act.
B. By June 1, 2025, the legislative finance
committee and the health care authority shall provide the
administrative office of the courts an initial set of
evaluation guidelines for behavioral health services for
adoption and implementation of regional plans. The
evaluation guidelines shall include methods for evaluating
the effectiveness of promising practices and behavioral
health services not identified in Subsection A of this
section. A promising practice is a program that has shown
potential to improve outcomes or increase efficiency and is
worthy of further study through a pilot implementation. The
guidelines may be amended or updated at the request of the
legislative finance committee or the legislative health and
human services committee. The health care authority, in
consultation with the legislative finance committee, shall
confirm whether or not each behavioral health service in a
regional plan meets the evaluation guidelines as set forth in
the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act.
SECTION 6. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INVESTMENTS.-- SFC/SB 3
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A. Money appropriated to carry out the provisions
of the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act:
(1) shall be used to address priorities and
funding gaps identified in the regional plans;
(2) shall be equitably distributed for all
eligible priorities identified in each regional plan and
shall prioritize funding behavioral health services for
disproportionately impacted communities;
(3) may be used to fund grants not more than
four years in length that require annual reports to evaluate
the effectiveness of behavioral health services delivered;
(4) may be used to fund grants to cover
costs of providing non-acute care behavioral health services
to indigent and uninsured persons; and
(5) may be used to provide advance
disbursement of up to five percent for emergencies or
unforeseen circumstances that could adversely impact the
contracted behavioral health services within the regional
plan should funding not be made available or accessible.
B. A behavioral health region may request to
repurpose any unexpended balance of a grant subject to the
Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act to another
identified funding priority within that region, and the
health care authority shall approve that request if:
(1) no report is provided by the grant SFC/SB 3
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recipient as required by Section 4 of that act;
(2) the grant purpose is not meeting
performance measures identified in the regional plan; or
(3) the audit or evaluation required by
Section 10 of that act finds the initial grant purpose to
have been implemented ineffectively.
SECTION 7. UNIVERSAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CREDENTIALING
PROCESS.--No later than June 30, 2027, the health care
authority shall establish a universal behavioral health
service provider enrollment and credentialing process for
medicaid to reduce the administrative burden on behavioral
health service providers. No later than December 31, 2025,
the health care authority, in consultation with the
legislative finance committee and the legislative health and
human services committee, shall establish a working group of
health care licensing boards to streamline the process to
verify behavioral health licensing and improve the overall
behavioral health licensing process. The working group shall
provide the legislature with statutory recommendations if
needed.
SECTION 8. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES--LIMITATIONS.--
The health care authority shall promulgate rules outlining
the benefits and structure related to behavioral health
services. Any limitation on the number of new behavioral
health recipients that a behavioral health service provider SFC/SB 3
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serves and is paid for shall be consistent with standards of
care for the behavioral health services provided to patients.
SECTION 9. 988 AND 911 COORDINATION.--The state
agencies that manage the 988 behavioral health emergency
system and the 911 emergency system shall ensure the
interoperability and bidirectionality of those systems to
improve crisis and emergency response.
SECTION 10. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AUDIT AND EVALUATION
REQUIREMENTS.--
A. The health care authority shall regularly
monitor and audit contracts and grantees subject to the
Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act to ensure that
behavioral health service quality standards are met and to
ensure financial and programmatic compliance during the
duration of an active regional plan. The health care
authority shall complete a statewide gap analysis of adult
behavioral health services every two fiscal years, beginning
on July 1, 2027, that shall be used to inform regional plans
and sequential intercept mapping. Any data requests made by
the health care authority to a local government body related
to the local government body's behavioral health programs,
including financial information, shall be provided within
thirty days of the written request and shall be shared with
the administrative office of the courts and the legislative
finance committee. The health care authority shall review SFC/SB 3
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regional plans for reasonableness of budget and service
delivery to optimize infrastructure and behavioral health
services throughout the state.
B. The legislative finance committee, in
consultation with the health care authority, shall conduct or
contract for program evaluations and reviews of the
sufficiency of regional plans' program design and
implementation plans to ensure that they can meet the stated
objectives, including:
(1) review and assessment of the sufficiency
of the regional plan, time lines and resources;
(2) review of the adequacy of functional,
technical and operational requirements, capabilities and
resources;
(3) identification of gaps and deficiencies
in the regional plan; and
(4) review of the sufficiency of staff,
other resources and partnerships.
C. During implementation of the Behavioral Health
Reform and Investment Act, the legislative finance committee
or a contractor retained by the legislative finance committee
shall report on the following services and progress to the
appropriate interim legislative committees, administrative
office of the courts and the health care authority:
(1) ongoing, real-time review of project SFC/SB 3
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progress and deliverables;
(2) ongoing, real-time review of gaps,
resources and deficiencies; and
(3) ongoing verification of critical
features, operations and program viability of grantees
subject to that act.
SECTION 11. REPEAL.--Section 24A-3-1 NMSA 1978
(being Laws 2004, Chapter 46, Section 8, as amended) is
repealed.