PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Create the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 2 MRSA §6, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. Y, §1, is further amended to read:
 
1. Range 91.   The salaries of the following state officials and employees are within salary range 91:
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §20002, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §12, is further amended to read:
 
2. Coordination of activities and services.   To establish within the Department of Health and HumanSubstance Use Disorder Services the responsibility for planning, developing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating all of the State's substance use disorder prevention and treatment activities and services;
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §20002-A  is enacted to read:
§ 20002-A. Department of Substance Use Disorder Services established
The Department of Substance Use Disorder Services is established as a cabinet-level department.
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §20003, sub-§3-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, §9, is further amended to read:
 
3-B. Commissioner.   "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health and HumanSubstance Use Disorder Services.
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §20003, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, §10, is further amended to read:
 
6. Department.   "Department" means the Department of Health and HumanSubstance Use Disorder Services.
Sec. 6.  5 MRSA §20005, sub-§14-A  is enacted to read:
 
14-A.  Cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Services.     Establish cooperative or contractual relationships with offices within the Department of Health and Human Services that provide services to individuals with substance use disorder including but not limited to services under Medicaid, programs for individuals without insurance and licensing, prevention or planning services and programs;
Sec. 7. 5 MRSA §20006-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, §23, is further amended to read:
 
3. Other duties and powers.   Carry out other duties and exercise other powers granted to the commissioner under this Act and under Title 22-A, section 207, subsection 3.
Sec. 8. 5 MRSA §20023, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §35, is further amended to read:
§ 20023.Education
To the fullest extent possible, the Commissioner of Education shall coordinate all elementary and secondary school substance use disorder education programs administered by the Department of Education and funded under the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 with programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services. The Commissioner of Education shall participate in planning, budgeting and evaluation of substance use disorder programs and ensure that substance use disorder education programs administered by the Department of Education that involve any community participation are coordinated with available treatment services.
Nothing in this section interferes with the authority of the Department of Education to receive and allocate federal funds under the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986.
Sec. 9. 22-A MRSA §201, sub-§2-A, ¶C, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §89, is further amended to read:
 
C. Integrated services responsibilities, including but not limited to:
 
(1) Adult and elder services, including but not limited to aging, substance use disorder, mental health and disability services;
 
(2) Child and family services responsibilities, including but not limited to child welfare, children's behavioral health and early childhood services; and
 
(3) Regional operations.
Sec. 10. 22-A MRSA §203, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §90, is further amended to read:
 
1. Programs and services for adults, children and families.   The department shall provide adults, children and families with the following programs and services:
 
A. Economic assistance and employment support services;
 
B. Mental health and behavioral health services;
 
C. Developmental disability services;
 
D. Physical health services; and
 
E. Public health services; and.
 
F.  Substance use disorder prevention and treatment services.
Sec. 11. 22-A MRSA §206, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §91, is repealed.
Sec. 12. 22-A MRSA §207, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §92, is further amended to read:
 
7. Contracts with health care servicing entities.   The commissioner may enter into contracts with health care servicing entities for the financing, management and oversight of the delivery of mental health,and adult developmental and substance use disorder services to clients pursuant to a state or federally sponsored health program in which the department participates or that the department administers. For the purposes of this subsection, "health care servicing entity" means a partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company or other legal entity that enters into a contract with the State to provide or arrange for the provision of a defined set of health care services; to assume responsibility for some aspects of quality assurance, utilization review, provider credentialing and provider relations or other related network management functions; and to assume financial risk for provision of such services to clients through capitation reimbursement or other risk-sharing arrangements. "Health care servicing entity" does not include insurers or health maintenance organizations. In contracting with health care servicing entities, the commissioner:
 
A. Shall include in all contracts with the health care servicing entities standards, developed in consultation with the Superintendent of Insurance, to be met by the contracting entity in the areas of financial solvency, quality assurance, utilization review, network sufficiency, access to services, network performance, complaint and grievance procedures and records maintenance;
 
B. Prior to contracting with any health care servicing entity, must have in place a memorandum of understanding with the Superintendent of Insurance for the provision of technical assistance, which must provide for the sharing of information between the department and the superintendent and the analysis of that information by the superintendent as it relates to the fiscal integrity of the contracting entity;
 
C. May require periodic reporting by the health care servicing entity as to activities and operations of the entity, including the entity's activities undertaken pursuant to commercial contracts with licensed insurers and health maintenance organizations;
 
D. May share with the Superintendent of Insurance all documents filed by the health care servicing entity, including documents subject to confidential treatment if the information is treated with the same degree of confidentiality as is required of the department; and
 
E. May make all necessary rules for the administration of contracts with health care servicing entities. All rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services as a separate cabinet-level department. It removes from the Department of Health and Human Services, and transfers to the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services, functions and services for individuals with substance use disorders, prevention programs and administrative assistance for the Substance Use Disorder Services Commission.