2014 -- S 2877

========

LC005298

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

____________

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THAT THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH PRESENT A PLAN FOR AN INTEGRATED PRIMARY CARE AND

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND HEALTH PROMOTION PILOT PROGRAM

     Introduced By: Senators Miller, Sosnowski, Nesselbush, Ottiano, and Cool Rumsey

     Date Introduced: April 09, 2014

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     WHEREAS, Over the past two decades, Rhode Island has made strides in increasing

access to healthcare for medical conditions. The Ocean State is recognized nationwide as a leader

for its medical healthcare system, especially for children; and

     WHEREAS, Like many other states, Rhode Island confronts challenges when it comes to

ensuring that everyone who needs help for mental health and substance use disorders has access

to behavioral health services. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI),

behavioral health services fail to reach as many as 60 percent of those individuals in need. The

costs associated with this gap are substantial and affect the public at large, as well; and

     WHEREAS, Rhode Island, with no local health departments and limited community

advocacy for behavioral and environmental programs, and with a population of which 20 to 25

percent have no regular source of health care, is confronted by additional challenges in providing

integrated and comprehensive primary care so as to best improve population health outcomes for

all; and

     WHEREAS, Recognizing the need to strengthen the state’s healthcare system to assure

that all Rhode Islanders lead healthy, fulfilling lives, the General Assembly in 2013 passed

S834A and H6288, legislation that established the Special Joint Commission to Study the

Integration of Primary Care and Behavioral Health in Rhode Island. The commission's purpose

was to "make a comprehensive study of the current status of primary care and behavioral health

in Rhode Island; of the available research, data and analyses of the impact of primary care and

behavioral health service availability and delivery system architecture on population outcomes;

and of the advisability of creating a Primary Care Trust or other mechanism to fund and otherwise

support a comprehensive integrated primary care and behavioral health system for all Rhode

Islanders"; and

     WHEREAS, The legislators, medical and behavioral healthcare providers and

practitioners, and insurers who served on the Joint Commission heard expert testimony and

reviewed best practices nationally that pointed to the benefits associated with an integrated

approach to primary care and behavioral health, and with a primary care delivery system

configured to care for the whole population in its service area. The commission members agreed

that there is untapped potential in Rhode Island to explore how integrating behavioral health and

primary care might improve population-based health outcomes, and recommended that a robust

legislative pilot for an integrated, multi-disciplinary primary care, behavioral care and

neighborhood-based health promotion and delivery model be created; and

     WHEREAS, It is critical that a plan for a successful approach to integrated care include

the contributions of the key stakeholders that would be involved in implementing and supporting

a changed system of healthcare delivery and payment in the state; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby respectfully requests that the Department of Health work with key stakeholders in the state

to develop a plan for an integrated primary care, behavioral care, and health promotion pilot

program at one or more geographic locations; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that the proposed plan reflect

data produced by and for the Health Care Planning and Accountability Advisory Council, to

identify the state’s existing primary and behavioral health care capacities and to target unmet

needs regarding all forms of primary and behavioral health care population outcomes. The plan

should be consistent with the Joint Commission’s recommendation that it take place in a specific

geographic location, feature a payment approach that emphasizes value as opposed to volume to

assess the impact of interventions aimed at population-based health outcomes, and be of a scale to

generate sufficient data and other information regarding population outcomes and other impacts

that can support policy decisions; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that the Department of Health

present a written plan for a pilot program to the General Assembly on or before November 1,

2014; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Director of the Department of Health and

LC005298 - Page 2 of 2

the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

========

LC005298

========

LC005298 - Page 3 of 2