Amendment #24, as changed to H.4725

Amendment #24 to H4725

Access to Medication Assisted Treatment in Correctional Facilities

Representatives O'Day of West Boylston, Malia of Boston, Hill of Ipswich, Scibak of South Hadley, Khan of Newton, Balser of Newton, Rushing of Boston, Kaufman of Lexington, Tucker of Salem and Ferrante of Gloucester move to amend the bill by striking out section 78 and inserting in place thereof the following sections:

SECTION XX.

Section 1 of Chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting before the definition of “Commissioner” the following definition:-

“Behavioral health counseling”, any non-pharmacological intervention carried out by a qualified behavioral health professional in a therapeutic context at an individual, family, or group level; provided, that interventions may include structured, professionally administered interventions delivered in person or interventions delivered remotely via telemedicine.

SECTION XX. Section 1 of said chapter 127, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Parole board” the following definition:

“Qualified addiction specialist,” a treatment provider who is a physician licensed by the board of registration of medicine, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse, or a licensed physician assistant, and who has a minimum of 6 months experience treating individuals with substance use disorder or is a licensed DATA-waiver practitioner under the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016, Public Law 114-198.

SECTION XX. Section 16 of said chapter 127, as amended by chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “more” the following words:-

; provided, that if an inmate is diagnosed with substance use disorder, the report of such examination shall include a determination of whether or not opioid agonist treatment for opioid use disorder is appropriate for the inmate; and provided further, that this requirement may be satisfied by relying on the report of an examination made pursuant to section 10 of chapter 111E, if said report includes a determination of whether or not opioid agonist treatment for opioid use disorder is appropriate for the inmate

SECTION A. Said chapter 127 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 17A the following section:-

If a person in the custody of a state or county correctional facility, in any status, was receiving opioid agonist treatment through any legally authorized medical program or by a valid prescription for opioid addiction immediately preceding their incarceration, said treatment shall not be involuntarily changed or discontinued except upon a determination by a qualified addiction specialist as defined in section 1 of this chapter that the treatment is no longer appropriate. Treatment established under this section shall be subject to section 7 of chapter 111E, and facilities shall report at least biannually to the commissioner of public health in a manner to be determined by said commissioner for the evaluation of such treatment.

SECTION B. Section 17B of said chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Section 17B. Every state and county correctional facility shall maintain or provide for the capacity to possess, dispense, and administer all drugs approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for use in opioid agonist treatment for addiction and shall make such treatment available at least 30 days prior to release to any person in the custody of a state or county correctional facility for 30 days or more and for whom such treatment is determined to be medically appropriate by a qualified addiction specialist as defined in section 1 of this chapter. Treatment established under this section shall include behavioral health counseling for individuals diagnosed with substance use disorder and said counseling services shall be consistent with current therapeutic standards for these therapies in a community setting. A facility shall not be required to maintain or provide an opioid substitution therapy that would not otherwise be a MassHealth covered benefit for eligible individuals after their release.

SECTION C. The first paragraph of Section 17B of said chapter 127 is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-

“Every state and county correctional facility shall maintain or provide for the capacity to possess, dispense, and administer all drugs approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for use in opioid agonist treatment for addiction and shall make such treatment available to any person in the custody of a state or county correctional facility for whom such treatment is determined to be medically appropriate by a qualified addiction specialist as defined in section 1 of this chapter.”

SECTION D. Said chapter 127, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after section 17B the following section:-

Section 17C. No later than January 1, 2021, and by January 1 of each subsequent year, every state and county correctional facility shall report to the commissioner the following information for the prior calendar year: (1) the cost to the facility of providing opioid substitution therapy for addiction; (2) the type and prevalence of opioid substitution therapy for addiction provided; (3) the number of persons in the custody of the facility, in any status, who continued to receive the same opioid substitution therapy for addiction as they received prior to incarceration; (4) the number of persons in the custody of the facility, in any status, who voluntarily discontinued the opioid substitution therapy for addiction that they received prior to incarceration; (5) the number of persons in the custody of the facility, in any status, who discontinued opioid substitution therapy for addiction that they received prior to incarceration due to a determination by a physician or addiction specialist; (6) the number of persons in the custody of the facility, in any status, who received opioid substitution therapy for addiction at least 30 days prior to release; (7) the number of persons in the custody of the facility, in any status, who received opioid substitution therapy for addiction who did not receive such therapy prior to incarceration; and (8) any other information requested by the commissioner related to the provision of opioid substitution therapy for addiction.

The department of correction, in consultation with the department of public health, shall provide a report of the findings collected from facilities under this section to the chairs of the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery and the house and senate committees on ways and means annually, on or before March 1. The report shall include, but not be limited to: the cost of providing opioid substitution therapy for addiction for all persons in the custody of state and correctional facilities, in any status, in the commonwealth; the type and prevalence of opioid substitution therapy for addiction provided at state and correctional facilities in the commonwealth; a summary of facility practices and any changes to those practices related to opioid substitution therapy for addiction; and the aggregated results of the information collected pursuant to clauses (3) to (7), inclusive, of this section.

SECTION XX. Section A shall take effect on August 1, 2019.

SECTION XX. Section B shall take effect on August 1, 2020.

SECTION XX. Section C shall take effect on August 1, 2022.