AB 650

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to provide as a benefit and

reimburse peer recovery coach services under the Medical Assistance program and

to establish and maintain a program to coordinate and continue care following a

substance use overdose. A “peer recovery coach,” as defined in the bill, is an

individual who practices in the recovery field and who provides support and

assistance to individuals who are in treatment or recovery from mental illness or a

substance use disorder.

The bill requires DHS to reimburse under the Medical Assistance program a

peer recovery coach service that meets all of the following criteria: the recipient of

the peer recovery coach service is in treatment for or recovery from mental illness or

a substance use disorder; the peer recovery coach provides the service under the

supervision of a peer supervisor and in coordination and accordance with the

recipient's individual treatment plan and treatment goals; and the peer recovery

coach completes the training specified in the bill. The bill requires DHS to request

any federal approval necessary to implement the reimbursement.

The bill also requires DHS to establish and maintain a program to facilitate

overdose treatment providers to do all of the following: use peer recovery coaches to

encourage individuals to seek treatment for a substance use disorder following an

overdose, provide access to medications to reverse an overdose, coordinate and

continue care and treatment of individuals after an overdose, provide education to

patients and families on preventing and reversing an overdose, provide follow-up

services for patients after an overdose to ensure continued recovery and connection

to support services, and collect and evaluate outcomes data on patients receiving

peer recovery coach services and coordination and continuation of care services. The

bill allows DHS to establish policies and procedures to provide guidance on the

provision of medications that reverse an overdose or treat a substance use disorder

or on continuation of, or referral to, evidence-based treatment services for patients

with a substance use disorder who have experienced an overdose. DHS is required

under the bill to seek any funding available from the federal government, including

grant funding under the federal SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, to

establish and maintain the program or establish the policies and procedures.