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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Steinborn

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/12/07

HB 717

SHORT TITLE Respite Services for Mentally Ill

SB

ANALYST Geisler

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates: SB 484

Relates to: SB 280

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 717 appropriates $100,000 to the Department of Health (DOH) to provide respite

services for the mentally ill and their families. Any unexpended balance remaining at the end of

fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that he funding in HB717 is not in the Executive Budget for DOH or for HSD.

Respite services for adults with mental illness are not part of the NM Medicaid benefit package

except in limited exceptions (see discussion below under significant issues).

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

If passed, HB 717 would appropriate $100,000 to fund respite services for individuals with

mental illness and their families. The NM Behavioral Health Collaborative defines respite care

House Bill 717 – Page

2

service as “a program of care, in a supervised setting, for individuals with or at risk of serious

emotional, behavioral, or neurobiological disorders or severe mental illness and/or serious

addictive disorders. The purpose of respite is to sustain the family or other primary caregiver by

providing those individuals with time limited temporary relief from the ongoing responsibility of

care." (Service Definition for HCPCS T1005, 4-14-05)

According to the ValueOptions New Mexico (VONM) report on behavioral health populations

currently being served with BHSD funding, up to 7,439 individuals over the age of 18 and their

families could be eligible for respite services. (DOH-02-B- diagnostic Groups (36 report -

January, 2007)

HB 717 does not speak to whether the services to be covered by this appropriation are for adults,

children, or both. Respite services for children are currently covered as a Medicaid enhanced

benefit, through the Medically Fragile Waiver, and through CYFD as a wraparound service.

Respite services for adults are not covered except through the Disabled & Elderly and Medically

Fragile waivers, both of which rarely cover adults with mental illness.

DUPLICATION AND RELATIONSHIP

HB 717 is duplicated by SB 484 and relates to Section 8.4 of SB 280, Certain Agency

Expenditures (DOH section). This section appropriates $57,000 to DOH from the general fund

for expenditure in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 to contract for unspecified behavioral health

services in southern New Mexico.

GG/csd