MI CARES HOTLINE; ESTABLISH                                                          H.B. 4051 (S-1):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                     REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

House Bill 4051 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Sponsor:  Representative Mary Whiteford

House Committee:  Health Policy

Senate Committee:  Health Policy and Human Services

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Mental Health Code to do the following:

-- Require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to establish and make available to the public the Michigan CARES (Community, Access, Resources, Education, and Safety) Hotline, which would have to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

-- Require the DHHS to contract for the design, operation, and maintenance of the Hotline.

-- Require a person operating or maintaining the Hotline to meet certain obligations related to the implementation of the Hotline, such as having the ability to retrieve near real-time information related to availability of certain psychiatric and substance use disorder services, referring individuals requiring mental health or substance use services to certain mental health professionals, and collecting data to track the success of the operations.

-- Require the DHHS to have operational oversight for, including access to and use of, the customer relationship management infrastructure.

-- Specify that an individual operating or maintaining the Hotline under contract with the DHHS would have the same immunity as a government employee under the government immunity law.

Proposed MCL 330.1165                                            Legislative Analyst:  Tyler VanHuyse

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have a negative fiscal impact on the DHHS and no impact on local units of government. The DHHS estimates that the operation of a mental health hotline would increase costs for the Department by $1.0 million to $2.5 million annually.

Public Act 618 of 2018 included $3.0 million for the development, operation, and maintenance of a pilot version of the Michigan CARES hotline within three geographically diverse areas.

Date Completed:  9-16-19                                               Fiscal Analyst:  Ellyn Ackerman

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.