(1) The general assembly declares that in order to promote the public health and welfare of the people of Colorado, it is in the public interest to establish and streamline minimum standards and rules for behavioral health entities operating in the state of Colorado and to provide the authority for the administration and enforcement of such minimum standards and rules. These standards and rules must be sufficient to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of behavioral health entity consumers.
(2) The intent of creating the behavioral health entity license is to:
Provide a single, flexible license category under which community-based behavioralhealth service providers can provide integrated mental health disorder, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorder services and meet a consumer's continuum of needs, from crisis stabilization to ongoing treatment;
Provide a regulatory framework for innovative behavioral health service deliverymodels to meet the needs of both individuals and communities;
Increase parity in the oversight and protection of consumers' health, safety, and welfare between physical health and behavioral health regardless of the payment source; and
Streamline and consolidate the current regulatory structure to enhance communityproviders' ability to deliver timely and needed services, while ensuring consumer safety.
Further, the general assembly determines and declares that, in administering and enforcing standards for behavioral health entities, the department of public health and environment should focus on behavioral health entity consumer safety and outcomes; reducing regulatory gaps, duplication, and conflicts that hinder access to care; and allowing for new, innovative behavioral health service types with minimal barriers.
It is the intent of the general assembly that the behavioral health entity license isimplemented in two separate phases as follows:
Phase one implementation includes the incorporation of a facility currently licensedor previously eligible for licensure as an acute treatment unit or as a community mental health center, community mental health clinic, or crisis stabilization unit that was licensed as a community clinic. Such a facility will transition to the behavioral health entity license no later than July 1, 2022, in accordance with section 25-27.6-104 (1).
Phase two implementation includes the incorporation of behavioral health entitiesthat provide behavioral health services for the treatment of alcohol use disorders and substance use disorders; except that phase two shall not include controlled substance licenses currently issued by the department of human services, which shall be studied by the behavioral health entity implementation and advisory committee established pursuant to section 25-27.6-103. Such entities shall apply for licensure as behavioral health entities no later than July 1, 2024, in accordance with section 25-27.6-104 (1).
Source: L. 2019: Entire article added, (HB 19-1237), ch. 413, p. 3628, § 1, effective August 2.