NAMI Minnesota Legislative Update

March 10, 2019

Action Alert: Mental Health Parity Up in the House

It has been over a decade since Congress passed Mental Health Parity, and yet discrimination continues in Minnesota. Mental Health Parity means that if a health plan covers mental health and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment, then that health plan must provide equal coverage for mental health, SUD, and other medical benefits.

This still isn't happening. And the law isn't being enforced. We cannot build our mental health system if private insurance doesn't pay for needed treatment. Common parity violations include: higher co-pays for mental health treatment, set limit on the number of days covered in a hospital, charging more for mental health medications, refusing to pay for residential treatment, making the patient get permission for new or continuing treatment, narrow networks so you can't see someone for months.

NAMI Minnesota has been working very hard for three years to pass a bill to enforce parity. HF 1340 - NAMI's mental health parity bill - authored by Rep. Lien, will be heard in the House Commerce Committee THIS Tuesday and we are counting on you to call your legislators and help get this bill passed.

Our first action will be to reach out to members of the House of Representatives while they are on the House Floor tomorrow afternoon. Are you ready to step up and join our team? Sam Smith and other NAMI members will be standing outside the house chambers of the capitol at 3:00 PM, where you will get a quick training on how to engage a legislator, a fact sheet to hand out on mental health parity, and help finding the right members to talk to. Contact Sam Smith if we can count on you to help educate legislators on mental health parity.

We also need NAMI members to contact their legislators today and Monday - especially if they sit on the House Commerce Committee. Here is the contact information for these legislators:

Chair: Rep. Halverson - 651-296-4128 - from Eagan Vice Chair: Rep. Stephenson - 651-296-5513 - from Coon Rapids

Republican Lead: Rep. O'Driscoll - 651-296-7808 - from Sartell Rep. Carlson - 651-296-4218 - from Bloomington Rep. Davids - 651-296-9278 - from Preston Rep. Dean -651-296-8659 - from Minneapolis Rep. Elkins - 651-296-7803 - from Bloomington Rep. Garofalo - 651-296-1069 - from Farmington Rep. Haley - 651-296-8635 - from Red Wing Rep. Howard - 651-296-7158 - from Richfield Rep. Kotyza-Witthuhn - 651-296-7449 - from Eden Prairie Rep. Kresha - 651-296-4247 - from Little Falls Rep. Lesch - 651-296-4224 - from Saint Paul Rep. Dave Lislegard - 651-296-0170 - from Aurora Rep. Mahoney - 651-296-4277 - from St. Paul Rep. O'Neill - 651-296-5063 - from Maple Lake Rep. Richardson - 651-296-4192 - from Mendota Heights Rep. Swedzinksi - 651-296-4192 - from from Ghent Rep. Tabke - 651-296-8872 - from Shakopee Rep. Theis - 651-296-6316 - from St. Cloud

Here's what you have to say:Hello, my name is ________ and I am a NAMI member and your constituent from ________.

(briefly share your story about why you are a mental health advocate)

I am writing you today to urge you to support HF 1340. This bill will give the Departments of Commerce and Health new tools to enforce mental health parity. Without HF 1340, health plans will continue to discriminate against people with mental illnesses with narrower networks, more restrictive use of prior authorizations, and limited drug formularies. HF 1340 gives the Departments access to data to ensure that health plans are following the law. Thank you for your time and your support of people with mental illnesses and their families.

If this is your first time writing in for NAMI, don't forget to personalize this letter as much as you can. This is just meant to be a guide to help you get started. Thank you for your advocacy in support of mental health parity!

Find out who represents you

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Mental Health Day on the Hill This Week!

The 2019 Mental Health Day on the Hill is this Coming Thursday! This is the most important advocacy day of the year and we are counting on NAMI members to join us.

Please note that there has been a venue change. The pre-rally training this year will be held in the Christ-Lutheran Church on the Capitol at 9:30 AM. This is a convenient location that is just across the street from the north side of the capitol on University. The address is 105 University Ave W. Thank you for your flexibility. The rally will be held at 11:00 in the rotunda of the Capitol. To read up on the issues read the Mental Health Legislative Network book.

NAMI members who live in the metro area will have to arrange for their own transportation, but people who live in Western Minnesota, the Moorhead area, Duluth, Rochester, and Winona will have a chartered bus that will take you to and from the capitol. Whether you are driving yourself or are planning on taking a bus, please register for the Day on the Hill on our eventbrite page. Look here for information on where to park.

Thank you for registering for our Day on the Hill and speaking up for the needs of our mental health community at the capitol. We are counting on you to join us in order to keep up our momentum in the 2019 session!

Please contact Sam Smith if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the 2019 Day on the Hill. If you have scheduled an appointment please let Sam know.

Hearings This Week - Action Needed!

On Monday at 1 PM, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear SF 619, which legalizes the possession, sale, and consumption of marijuana in Minnesota. While NAMI supports decriminalizing the possession of marijuana, we are opposed to legalizing marijuana because of the medical research that links marijuana use with psychosis. You can find the committee list here and NAMI's letter here.

The Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee will convene on Monday at 3 PM to hear a number of bills, including SF 1390 from Senator Paul Anderson. NAMI supports the amended version of this bill that will support the creation of voice-response suicide prevention lifelines and make sure Minnesota is in compliance with federal requirements. You can find the full committee list here.

The last significant hearing on Monday will be the House Judiciary Committee at 5 PM. HF 2083 is an Omnibus Corrections bill from Rep. Considine that includes policy changes to make it easier for people in jail to be connected with mental health resources, NAMI legislation on solitary confinement, and NAMI supported legislation to restart the Ombudsman for Corrections program. You can find the full committee list here.

On Tuesday, NAMI legislation to enforce mental health parity will be heard at 2:30 PM in the House Commerce Committee. This amended legislation gives the Departments of Commerce and Health the authority to request data from the health plans about parity compliance, including information on Non-Quantitative Treatment Limits (NQTLs) like network adequacy or drug formularies. The bill also defines therapy and medication maintenance visits as primary care for the purpose of cost-sharing payments like a deductible and requires a yearly report to the legislature on parity enforcement. At the same hearing, the Commerce Committee will also consider NAMI supported legislation to ban the use of conversion therapy. You can find the full committee list here. Please think about attending the hearing to show support.

Also on Tuesday, the House Education Policy Committee is also meeting at 2:30 and will review Governor Walz's Education omnibus bill. At the same time, the House Health and Human Services Policy Committee will be hearing HF 1888, which is NAMI supported legislation on children's residential mental health treatment. You can find HHS policy committee members here.

On Wednesday, the Housing Finance and Policy Committee will convene to hear HF 1918. This is legislation from Rep. Her that would allow people to exit their lease if they need to receive treatment in a medical facility, which would include someone with a mental illness. You can find the full committee list here.

The House Education Finance and Policy Committees will both meet on Wednesday at 9:45 AM and 2:30 PM respectively to mark-up the Governor's education omnibus bills.

At 12:45 PM, the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee will hear HF 1043. This is NAMI endorsed legislation from the Homes for all Coalition and includes a funding increase for permanent supportive housing for people with a serious mental illness. If your legislator is on the HHS Finance Committee, please contact them and urge their support for HF 1043. You can find the full committee list here.

The Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee will meet on Wednesday at 3 PM. and will hear SF 2012 from Sen. Senjem. This is NAMI legislation that would create a task force so that we can better understand the significant increase in the number of Minnesotans being found incompetent to stand trial. You can find the full committee list here.

While there are not any relevant bills currently scheduled for Thursday and Friday, this is likely to change because it is a deadline week. This means in order for a bill to "be alive" it must get through all the policy committee on either the House or Senate side.

NAMI Meets with Legislators

NAMI Minnesota continues to meet with legislators in the House and Senate to advocate for our mental health agenda. If we have met with your legislator, please reach out to them and thank them for meeting with NAMI Minnesota.

Sen. Dziedzic from Minneapolis Sen. Chamberlain from Lino Lakes Rep. Schultz from Duluth Rep. Vang from Brooklyn Center

NAMI Minnesota works very hard to engage our elected officials, but we won't be able to meet with everyone. If we haven't met with your legislator yet, you can schedule a meeting yourself. To learn more about meeting with legislators, you can contact Sam Smith at NAMI.

News from the Federal Level

Landmark Lawsuit on Parity

In a landmark ruling, a federal court held Tuesday that health insurance giant United Behavioral Health (UBH), which serves over 60 million members and is owned by UnitedHealth Group, used flawed internal guidelines to unlawfully deny beneficiaries access to mental health and substance use treatment in an effort to cut costs. The ruling marks a validation for patients and providers who have long raised concerns that health plans were not fulfilling the requirements set forth in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which established parity between the coverage of behavioral health and medical/surgical benefits.

According to a press release from Globe Newswire, the federal court found that, to promote its own bottom line, UBH denied claims based on internally developed medical necessity criteria that were far more restrictive than generally accepted standards for behavioral health care. Other concerns the court noted included:

Internal criteria that was skewed to cover “acute” treatment, while ignoring underlying chronic mental health conditions that required ongoing care;

UBH’s lack of coverage criteria for children and adolescents; UBH having guidelines that were inconsistent with the American Society of

Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria, which insurers must use in Connecticut, Illinois, and Rhode Island;

UBH also failed to apply Texas-mandated substance use criteria at least for a limited period of time.

The release goes on to explain that while the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires parity for mental health and substance use benefits, insurers are permitted to evaluate claims for medical necessity. However, by using flawed medical necessity criteria, insurers can circumvent parity in favor of financial considerations and prevent patients from receiving the type and amount of care they actually require.

“For far too long, patients and their families have been stretched to the breaking point, both financially and emotionally, as they battle with insurers for the mental health coverage promised by their health plans,” said Psych-Appeal’s Meiram Bendat, co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the class action suit. “Now a court has ruled that denying coverage based on defective medical necessity criteria is illegal.”From the National Council

MN Legislative Committee Hearings

SenateOn Monday the Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee met and heard three NAMI bills. HF 840 from Sen. Draheim was the first bill on the agenda and would increase funding for First Episode Psychosis programs, create a new first

episode program for people with mood disorders like bipolar disorder, increase the funding for the state transitions program and increase the elderly waiver program.

Sue Abderholden shared how NAMI hears all too often from families seeking help for a loved one but unable to access the care they need. "We waive until people 'hit stage four' before providing the intense help that is needed." Dr David Bond testified on the effectiveness of the First Psychotic Episode programs and how we need eight in MN but only have four. He also share information about the new mood disorders program and how treatment costs were 11% lower because young people were able to avoid hospitalization. Nancy Howe, a parent and a family peer specialist, shared her story on the number of hospitalizations experienced by her son since these types of programs were not available. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion.

Also heard in committee that day was SF 1481 authored by Sen Relph that included several measures to expand the mental health workforce. Sue Abderholden briefly discussed the key features in the bill. Jessica Gourneau then testified. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, a practicing Clinical Psychologist and the Clinical Director at the American Indian Family Center, which is located on the Eastside of St. Paul. Dr. Gourneau spoke to the large debt students face going to graduate school to become a mental health professional. If you work in a nonprofit clinic serving underserved communities, you will make even less money making it difficult to pay off your loans. She went on to support the grant proposed in the bill for cultural healers. She stated "I am asking that you continue to support traditional healing practices within the Native community and communities of color as a necessary and restorative healing practice to reduce disparities but more importantly to promote healing. Once we heal as individuals, we can heal our communities and others. " The bill was laid over for possible inclusion.

The Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Finance Committee met on Monday afternoon. Sen. Nelson brought forward S.F. 1010. This bill focuses on the mental health grants for business operators farm families. Sen. Nelson describes 6 years of increased low commodity prices as a key factor in the stressors in the farming business in Minnesota. This bill would fund a farmer mental health practitioner, Minnesota currently only has 1 mental health professional.

Testifiers like Keith Olander from Central Lakes College testified before the committee on the needs of rural Minnesota farmers regarding their mental health needs. In his presentation Mr. Olander quotes that Minnesota’s suicide rate of farmers has surpassed the rate of Veteran suicide deaths. Additional advocates for farmers mental health is advocate Ted Matthews. Efforts that Mr. Matthews have contributed to advancing farmers' mental health include physically visiting these farmers at their own kitchen table. Mr. Orlander spoke to how requesting farmers to travel to the metro is inefficient and inaccessible to Minnesota rural farmers. Additional Senators introduced various bills addressing mental health needs for rural Minnesota, including

Sen. Sparks, Sen. Drahiem, Sen, Westorm, Sen. Sparks, and Sen. Dahms (SF 1010, SF 553, SF 251, SF 1726, SF 1722, and SF 1723). All were laid over in inclusion of an omnibus bill.

On Tuesday the Senate Higher Ed Committee heard SF 1702 which would fund a training program for pediatricians on children's mental health.

On Wednesday the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy heard SF 1090, authored by Sen. Latz, on re-establishing an ombudsman's office for jails and prisons. Sam Smith, with NAMI, testified in favor of the bill mentioning the difficulties people have faced in obtaining medication and treatment. Jeana Evans from Second Chance Coalition testified as to how grateful she was for the ombudsman when she was incarcerated and that it made her feel like she had a voice in the process. Commissioner Schnell mentioned that during conversations with long-term inmates in Stillwater, the inmates identified restarting the ombudsman program as a priority. Sen. Anderson said ombudsman is "something that is needed." SF 955 authored by Sen. Wiklund makes changes to the duty to warn statute for mental health professionals.

The HHS Reform Finance and Policy Committee heard SF 1437 authored by Sen. Mathews is a NAMI bill that increases funding for early childhood mental health consultation, multi-generational programs and child care for parents who are struggling with their mental illness. Michele Fallon, explained how the early childhood mental health consultation creates partnerships among teachers and parents, and the consultation builds their capacity to understand the influence of their relationships and interactions on young children’s development.

SF 1935, authored by Sen Abeler would create a childhood trauma-informed policy and practice task force. SF 787 authored by Sen. Rosen, would expand the Yellow Line project. The Ag and Housing Committee heard SF 1611, authored by Sen Goggin, which would fund Bridges Housing, Supportive Housing and a Landlord Risk Mitigation program. Sam Smith testified about the importance of stable housing in a person's recovery yet people with mental illnesses have high rates of homelessness. Julie Grothe from Guild talked about how hard it is to find a landlord willing to take someone with a poor rental history.

HouseThe House HHS Finance Committee heard several bills of interest on Tuesday. HF 1176 authored by Rep Xiong would provide $10,000 to the TAP program in St Paul that supports social inclusion for people with disabilities. HF1250 authored by Rep Bierman makes more permanent the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. Beth Krehbiel from Zumbro Valley MH Center spoke to the impact of the CCBHCs and how people no longer have to wait to access care, the care is more integrated and the payment method helps greatly. Mike Turpin with People Incorporated shared the

impact on individuals and the system. They found significant decrease in depression symptoms.

HF792 authored by Rep Vang provides grant money to connect more culturally diverse mental health providers to the community. Several people testified to the need of the bill and NAMI Minnesota provided a letter of support. HF1194 authored by Rep Baker would fund the PACT4 children's mental health collaborative transition age program. Becky shared the impact the program had on her son.

On Tuesday the Higher Ed Finance and Policy Division heard HR 971 authored by Rep Pryor, and a NAMI bill, that would fund college-linked mental health services to community and technical colleges. Sue Abderholden testified as to the needs of these students and how few campuses have onsite mental health providers. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion.

The House Health and Human Services Policy Committee heard several bills related to medical cannabis, and one, HF 717 by Rep Mariani, which would establish a task force on the whole legalizing marijuana issue. HF 342 by Rep Moran created the African American Family Preservation Act to address some of the problems unearthed in the child welfare system. Read the story here. On Wednesday the Housing Committee heard HF 1918 authored by Rep. Her thatwould allow a person to terminate their lease due to an illness.

On Wednesday the House Education Policy Committee heard HF 566 authored by Rep Wazlawik that would require districts to have safety assessment teams to look into threats. Sue Abderholden testified sharing NAMI's concern that suicidal thoughts should not be handled by these threat assessment teams and that the bill separate out how violence and suicide are treated by districts.

HF 474 would create a pilot project to better serve people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Read about it here.

The Health and Human Services Policy Committee heard bills related to expanding MinnesotaCare to more people. Higher Ed heard HF 1540 authored by Rep Liebling that would create a pediatric resident mental health training program. Read about it here.

On Wednesday night, HF 9, which created Extreme Risk Protection Orders was heard in the House Judiciary Finance Committee. One of the testifiers, a profession Olson, was quite callous and inappropriate in talking about suicide in his testimony against the bill. Special thanks to Rep Considine who called him out on it.

On Thursday the HHS Policy Committee heard HF 814 to expand funding for the

school-linked mental health programs. Rep Edelson talked about the need for the program. Sue Abderholden shared the changes being proposed in the bill. Mark Sander, Senior Clinical Psychologist from Hennepin County shared the outcome data from programs in Hennepin County. Nichole Scheiber shared her family's story and why having a mental health professional in the building was so needed for her daughter. Sandy Lewandowski, the Superintendent for Intermediate District 287, testified about the incredible challenges faced by her students, the injuries of her staff, and why specialized grants are needed. Finally, Janis Allen from the Range Mental Health Center spoke to the needs of children and families and how the program works with schools. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion.

On Friday the HHS Policy Committee heard HF 62, authored by Rep Youakim, which as amended would fund the suicide lifelines in Minnesota.

The House took up farmers mental health on the floor. Read about it here.

State News

NAMI Legislation in the News

Sue Abderholden and Sen. Senjem were featured in story run by KSTP on NAMI Legislation to create a task force to look into the causes for the increase in the number of Minnesotans being found incompetent to stand trial, in most cases due to a mental illness. “If we don’t go upstream, we're never going to address this issue,” said Sue Abderholden. “So we need to look at what happened three months before someone ended up in jail so we can intervene much earlier and never have to worry about competency restoration.” SF 2012 to create this task force will be heard in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon. To learn more, you can check out this story from KSTP.

Bill Introductions

SenateSF 1942 (Draheim, Anderson, P., Kiffmeyer, Nelson, and Abeler): Prohibits health insurance companies from excluding people based on prior medical conditions.

Referred to the committee on Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

SF 1956 (Nelson, Anderson, P., Jasinski): Provides funding from bonds proceeds to create school safety facility grants for violence prevention and increasing facility security. Grants are tied to improving facilities, such as predesigning, designing, constructing, furnishing, renovating, expanding, and equipping facilities. Referred to the committee on Capital Investment.

SF 1957 (Nelson, Anderson P, Jasinski): Appropriates funding for infrastructure to increase school safety and prevent violence. Referred to E-12 Finance and Policy.

SF 1982 (Matthews, Abeler, Hoffman, Kiffmeyer, and Benson): llows for a state agency hearing to resolve disputes between a county and DHS regarding the discharge of a patient from state-operated programs when the patient no longer meets the criteria for this level of care. A dispute can be made when the county was not given notice that the person no longer meets medical criteria for treatment at a state-operated program, the county was given notice during the weekend or holiday, the state-operated facility disagrees with the county's discharge plan, incomplete paperwork, or a lack of beds based on definitions developed in a 2015 report on transitioning MSOCS residents to the community. Prevents the commissioner of human services from charging patients for treatment at a state-operated program if they are unable to charge a county for medically unnecessary treatment at a state operated program. Referred to the committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy. Under current law, counties are required to pay DHS for all medically unnecessary days at a state-operated program.

SF 2004 (Westrom, Eaton, Abeler, Koran, Hoffman): Creates a work-group to help the state retain employees with disabilities. Requires state agency employment audits and action plans to consider employment for people with disabilities. Referred to

SF 2012 (Senjem): Create a Competency Restoration Task Force to evaluate and study community competency restoration programs. These are individuals found incompetent to stand trial. Among other topics, the task force will analyze current trends of competency referrals by county and consider the effect of any diversion projects or stepping-up initiatives; study the demographic of these individuals, including housing status and insurance status; and make recommendations, like prevention and diversion interventions, to better address these individuals’ needs. Stakeholders on the task force will include people with direct experience with competency restoration programs and members of racial and ethnic groups that disproportionately make up the criminal justice system. Referred to the committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 2013 (Senjem): Provides an undisclosed amount from the general fund to pay for adult mental health grants for regional mobile mental health crisis response teams

throughout the state. These teams are made up of mental health professionals and practitioners who can treat individuals at their homes or places outside of clinics. Because the teams are mobile, they can provide rapid responses to crisis situations. Referred to the committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 2028 (Abeler, Hoffman, Eaton): Appropriates funding to the Center for Victims of Torture for an integrated care model to deliver mental health targeted case management. Referred to Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SF 2058 (Senjem): Appropriating money for mental health mobile crisis services in southeast Minnesota. Referred to the Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

SSF 2072 (Abeler and Wiger): Appropriating money for trauma-informed school incentive aid. Referred to the Committee on E-12 Finance and Policy.

S.F. No. 2092 (Sparks): Requiring training for peace officers or sheriffs providing school liaison services. Referred to the Committee on E-12 Finance and Policy.

S.F. No. 2118: (Dziedzic, Hayden, Pappas, Wiklund, and Hoffman) Allowing tenants to terminate their lease if they become ill. Referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.

S.F. No. 2125 (Abeler, Hoffman, Rosen, and Relph): Requiring the commissioner of human services to ensure certain protections for children in foster care. Referred to the Committee on Human Services Reform Finance and Policy.

S.F. No. 2150 (Anderson, P): Appropriating money for a grant to the research-respond-refer program to provide crisis intervention training to peace officers. Referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy.

S.F. No. 2205 (Jensen, Klein, Nelson, Abeler, and Bigham): Modifying rates for substance use treatment; directing commissioner of human services to establish continuum of care-based rate methodology; requiring a report. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Finance and Policy.

HouseH. F. 1939 (Kunesh-Podein, Richardson, Baker and Mariani) Creates rights and protections for children in foster care. Requires the rights to be written to be understood by various ages and development and to be reviewed annually with a

social worker. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.

H. F. 1948 (Considine) Develops a pilot mental health program specific to correctional employees at Minnesota Correctional Facility- Stillwater. Providing correctional employees and offenders with mental health trainings, techniques, and mental health services available to them. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

H. F. 1952 (Liebling) A request of funds from the Olmsted County to establish mobile mental health crisis services available by Southeast Mobile Crisis Team. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

H. F. 1967 (Loeffler, Zerwas, Noor, Bierman, and Halverson) A bill for an act relating to human services; providing a rate increase for certain mental health providers; requiring a rate-setting proposal;The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

H. F. 2039 (Moran, Gomez, Kunesh- Podein, Kresha, Hassan) Grants 40 schools with funding to trauma-informed initiatives to better promote non-exclusionary discipline in schools. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

H.F. 2041 (Cantrell; Acomb; Hausman; Youakim; Elkins; Olson; Long; Sandell; Considine; Noor; Schultz; Davnie; Mann; Lien; Xiong, T.; Bierman; Halverson; Sauke; Huot and Gomez) Prohibits the use of conversion therapy for children and vulnerable adults. This bill would also prohibit the use of medical assistance to cover costs of conversion therapy.

H. F. 2069 (Bahner and Zerwas) Creates the Community Competency Restoration Task Force. It’s purpose will be to study, evaluate, and bring forth recommendations for community competency restoration programs to address the needs of individuals deemed incompetent in court trials. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy. This is a NAMI bill.

H. F. 2080 (Considine) This bill re-establishes Office of Ombudsman for the Dept. of Corrections. Additional guidelines for segregations in State Correctional Facilities. Creates intake procedure permitting county jails to share offenders mental illness information with local county social services agencies. The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division.

H. F. 2083 (Considine) Authorized a jail to share certain information about inmates with a mental illness with a local county social services agency; reestablishes the ombudsman for corrections; ; establishing guidelines for the use of administrative and

disciplinary segregation in state correctional institutions.

HF 2127 (Christensen) Authorizing employees of a correctional facility to administer opiate antagonists; authorizing medical director of Department of Corrections to make health care decisions for certain inmates lacking decision-making capacity and placed in an outside facility on conditional medical release;

H.F. 2155 (Moller, Wazlawik, Bernardy, Becker-Finn and Kunesh-Podein) Appropriating money for Youth Mental Health First Aid training for teachers.

HF 2184 (Liebling) This is the omnibus HHS budget bill.

HF 2206 (Albright and Moran) Expanding duty to warn and reciprocity for certain mental health professionals; Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.

H. F. 2207, (Davnie and Youakim) This is the omnibus education bill.

HF 2231 (Cantrell, Edelson and Zerwas) Modifies rates for substance use treatment; directing commissioner of human services to establish continuum of care-based rate methodology; requiring a report. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.

H. F. 2242, (Backer) Requiring coverage for treatment and services provided by mental health professionals and clinical trainees; Referred to the Committee on Commerce.

H. F. 2243, (Mariana and Noor) Amending the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act; requiring nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices. Referred to the Committee on Education Policy.

HF 2257 (Kresha and Olson) Requiring the commissioner of human services to establish opioid abuse prevention pilot projects. Referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services Policy.

Updates from NAMI Minnesota

NAMI Legislative Committee

Meetings are generally held on the second Tuesday of every month at 6 PM at the NAMI Minnesota office. You can also join by phone. To be added to the email list, contact Sam Smith.

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