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

SPONSOR Begaye

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/13/07

HB 741

SHORT TITLE Native American Behavioral Services

SB

ANALYST Geisler

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$5,000.0

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Human Services Department (HSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 741 makes a $5 million general fund appropriation to the Department of Health

(DOH) through the interagency behavioral health purchasing collaborative for expenditure in

FY08 to provide increased Native American behavioral health services, including cultural

teaching and traditional healing services. Any unexpected or unencumbered funds remaining at

the end of the FY08 shall revert to the General Fund.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

DOH notes that the funding for the program in this bill is not in the executive budget request.

Currently, there is approximately $1,400,000 for Native American behavioral health services in

the Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) base budget. Also, the federal Access to

Recovery (ATR) grant currently managed by BHSD provides funding for behavioral health

services to Native Americans including traditional healing through its substance abuse recovery

support services.

House Bill 741 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HB 741 would support a more than threefold increase in the level of funding for behavioral

health services to include cultural teaching and traditional healing services to Native Americans.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health website

(www.omhrc.gov) reports that it is significant to note that Native Americans frequently contend

with issues that prevent them from receiving quality medical care. Furthermore, Native

Americans also have a high prevalence and risk factors for mental health, suicide, and substance

abuse.

HB 741 does not specify the type of behavioral health services to be provided nor does it specify

how the proposed appropriation is to be distributed among providers serving Native Americans.

Cultural teaching is specifically addressed but it is not clear how cultural teaching is defined. In

addition, there are 22 New Mexico Indian Tribes within the state, and each identify cultural

teachings and traditional healing in their own perspective.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH currently purchases a majority of its behavioral health services through the Behavioral

Health Purchasing Collaborative’s contract with ValueOptions New Mexico (VONM).

Behavioral health services to Native American are included in this contract.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

HSD notes that under current rules, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services does

not provide federal matching dollars in any state across the United States for traditional healing

or cultural teaching activities of any types. Thus, the Medicaid program is not able to cover

traditional healing services and cultural teaching activities, so these services would not be

eligible for federal match.

GG/csd