Colorado bill prioritizes mental treatment instead of jail cell

Abstract

A new bill has been introduced into the Colorado legislature on March 29, which calls on the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to work with managed care entities to create incentives to get mental health care providers to accept Medicaid recipients with severe behavioral health disorders, The Daily Sentinel reported March 30. SB222 also creates a community behavioral health safety net and is aimed at getting people treatment in mental health facilities rather than ending up in county jails. “Mental health is the only condition where we wait until a person is at stage four to treat it, and even then, we're more likely to call law enforcement when that person is in crisis,” said Lauren Snyder, Mental Health Colorado's state policy director. The bill was introduced by Sens. Pete Lee (D‐Colorado Springs) and Tammy Story (D‐Golden) but it has bipartisan support. In the House, where it is sponsored by Reps. Daneya Esgar (D‐Pueblo) and Lois Landgraf (R‐Fountain), it has already won support by Republicans and Democrats. The bill was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.