HB 7109, An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage For Applied Behavior Analysis Services And Implementing Certain Recommendations Of The Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy And Planning Committee

TESTIMONY OF THE CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
SUBMITTED TO THE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Thursday, March 6, 2025

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) appreciates this opportunity to submit testimony concerning HB 7109, An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage For Applied Behavior Analysis Services And Implementing Certain Recommendations Of The Transforming Children’s Behavioral Health Policy And Planning Committee. CHA supports the bill.

Connecticut hospitals and health systems care for patients, strengthen the state’s economy, and support vulnerable communities across the state. Every day, they work to improve healthcare access, affordability, and health equity. Even as they face ongoing challenges, hospitals provide world-class care to everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of their ability to pay. Hospitals also support an exemplary workforce as the largest collective employer in the state, contribute significantly to the state’s economy, and invest in their communities addressing social drivers of health.

CHA urges the state to take immediate action to augment the availability of behavioral health services, both in the hospital and in the community. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and aggravated deficiencies in Connecticut’s behavioral health system. Rising numbers of people of all ages are experiencing mental health and substance use issues due to isolation, fear, and delays in care, compounded by chronic staffing shortages. These have stressed the healthcare system even further. The crisis is evident in hospital emergency departments (EDs), which are often the only option for people who cannot access care in more appropriate settings.

HB 7109 includes sections that promote the possibility of establishing Medicaid reimbursement for acuity-based care coordination services to improve behavioral outcomes for children, review intensive in-home child and adolescent psychiatric services (IICAPS) for families with children or adolescents who have serious emotional disturbances, and report on the status of private health insurance coverage for the treatment of children at behavioral health urgent crisis centers. CHA supports these efforts to inform improvements to the behavioral healthcare system. But more can be done.

The state can take other important steps now to enhance access to timely acute and preventive care, such as establishing Medicaid rate structures for initiatives like children’s behavioral health urgent care centers, making emergency mobile psychiatric services available statewide during high-demand times, expanding community-based and school-based services to all areas of the state, and instituting Medicaid reimbursement for other care coordination initiatives, including but not limited to collaborative care model (COCM) services and community care teams (CCTs).

Thank you for your consideration of our position. For additional information, contact CHA Government Relations at (203) 294-7301.