HB 26-1063

HB 26-1063 is a Colorado bill aimed at improving how people with behavioral health disorders are treated within the criminal and juvenile justice systems. It expands Medicaid reimbursement for medication-assisted treatment in jails to include more providers and allows law enforcement contractors to provide secure transportation services. The bill also transfers licensing authority for these transport providers from counties to the state's Department of Public Health and Environment starting in 2027, and it updates requirements for emergency mental health holds and certifications to ensure better care and rights protection for individuals. The bill has been signed into law, meaning its provisions will now go into effect as planned. This means that more providers can offer critical services like medication-assisted treatment in jails, and there are clearer guidelines on how to handle people experiencing mental health crises, ensuring they receive appropriate care rather than facing unnecessary legal consequences.

Official Summary

Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill requires the department of health care policy and financing and the behavioral health administration to publish on each department's website an easily accessible list of secure transportation providers that have contracts with managed care entities and behavioral health administrative services organizations, as applicable. Current law requires the department of health care policy and financing to provide medicaid reimbursement to opioid treatment programs for administering medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in a jail setting. Section 1 of the bill expands medicaid reimbursement to include licensed providers who administer MAT in a jail setting.      Current law excludes personnel employed by or contracted with a law enforcement agency from the definition of 'secure transportation'. Section 2 removes this exclusion to allow entities that contract with law enforcement agencies to provide secure transportation.      Sections 3 and 4 transfer the licensing authority for secure transportation providers from the counties to the department of public health and environment beginning January 1, 2027.      Sections 6 through 10 make changes to the secure transportation requirements and petition filing requirements related to emergency mental health holds and short-term and long-term certifications, including: Expanding the transportation provider types that may be contacted for assistance in detaining and transporting a person to a facility for an emergency mental health hold to include a behavioral health crisis response team, a private ambulance service provider, a private emergency medical services provider, and a secure transportation provider; Requiring a certified peace officer to advise the person being taken into protective custody that the person is not under arrest and has not committed a crime; Requiring the petition for a court-ordered evaluation to include any known history of the respondent's history of assault or possession of weapons and whether the respondent has a prior history of an emergency mental health hold or short-term or long-term certification; and Creating a right for a person detained for an emergency mental health hold to not be transported by a certified peace officer if an alternative secure transportation option is available.(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

Topics

Votes