Bill > H1808

This bill requires the secretary of the executive office of health and human services to track how easily people enrolled in MassHealth, which is Massachusetts' public health insurance program, can get behavioral health services for two years. The secretary must then provide reports twice a year to the Attorney General, the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, and the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means. These reports will analyze how well behavioral health providers are participating in public insurance programs, how many steps it takes to access care, how often people are readmitted to inpatient treatment, how services are used, what prior authorization requirements are in place, and any complaints or grievances filed, using benchmarks developed with input from various groups including the center for health information and analysis, provider groups, consumers, and health plans, and comparing this data to Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014.