Amendment ID: S2572-3-R1

Redraft Amendment 3

ED Provision of Behavioral Health Care

Mr. Cronin, Ms. Gobi and Mr. O'Connor move that the proposed new draft be amended in Section 22, by striking out, in line 781, the words “qualified behavioral health clinicians” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- “licensed mental health professionals”; and

in said section 22, by striking out, in line 783, the word “behavioral” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- “mental”; and

in said section 22, in the proposed first paragraph of section 51¾, by adding the following sentence:- “The regulations shall define “licensed mental health professional”, which shall include, but not be limited to, a: (i) licensed physician who specializes in the practice of psychiatry; (ii) licensed psychologist; (iii) licensed independent clinical social worker; (iv) licensed certified social worker; (v) licensed mental health counselor; (vi) licensed supervised mental health counselor; (vii) licensed physician assistant who practices in the field of psychiatry (viii) licensed psychiatric clinical nurse specialist; or (ix) healthcare provider, as defined in section 1, qualified within the scope of the individual's license to conduct an evaluation of a mental health condition, including an intern, resident or fellow pursuant to the policies and practices of the hospital and medical staff.” and

by inserting after section 57 the following section:-

"SECTION 57A. Section 22 shall take effect on January 1, 2023; provided, however, the department of public health shall promulgate regulations to implement section 51¾ of chapter 111 of the General Laws not later than October 1, 2022.".