Sec. 17b-263a. Amendment to state Medicaid plan to include assertive community treatment teams and community support services.
Sec. 17b-263a. Amendment to state Medicaid plan to include assertive community treatment teams and community support services. (a) On or before December 31, 2006, the Commissioner of Social Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Community Mental Health
Strategy Board, established under section 17a-485b, shall take such action as is necessary to amend the Medicaid state plan to include assertive community treatment teams
and community support services within the definition of optional adult rehabilitation
services. Such community treatment teams shall provide intensive, integrated, multidisciplinary services to adults with severe psychiatric disabilities, including, but not limited
to, persons who are homeless, persons diverted or discharged from in-patient programs
or nursing homes and persons diverted or released from correctional facilities, or who
are at risk of incarceration, and such teams shall provide intensive community care
management through case managers, nurses and physicians and shall include, but not
be limited to, vocational, peer and substance abuse specialists. The Commissioner of
Social Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter
54, for purposes of establishing the services specified in this subsection. The Commissioner of Social Services may implement policies and procedures for purposes of establishing such services while in the process of adopting such policies or procedures in
regulation form, provided notice of intention to adopt the regulations is printed in the
Connecticut Law Journal no later than twenty days after implementation and any such
policies and procedures shall be valid until the time the regulations are effective.
(b) For purposes of this section, the Commissioner of Social Services shall enter into
a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services that delegates responsibility to the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the clinical management of adult rehabilitation services provided to
adults eighteen years of age or older who are otherwise receiving mental health services
from said department. For purposes of this section, the term "clinical management"
describes the process of evaluating and determining the appropriateness of the utilization
of behavioral health services, providing assistance to clinicians or beneficiaries to ensure
appropriate use of resources and may include, but is not limited to, authorization, concurrent and retrospective review, discharge review, quality management, provider certification and provider performance enhancement. The Commissioner of Social Services and
the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall jointly develop clinical
management policies and procedures for purposes of this section. The Commissioner
of Social Services may implement policies and procedures necessary to carry out the
purposes of this section, including any necessary changes to existing behavioral health
policies and procedures concerning utilization management, while in the process of
adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, provided the commissioner publishes notice of intention to adopt the
regulations in the Connecticut Law Journal not later than twenty days after implementing
such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures implemented pursuant to this
subsection shall be valid until the earlier of the time such regulations are effective, or
December 1, 2006.
(P.A. 05-280, S. 84.)
History: P.A. 05-280 effective July 13, 2005.