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Committee adopts amendment, then rolls House Bill 70 to allow more work on Medicaid behavioral‑health waiver plan
Summary
House Bill 70, which would direct HCA to pursue a Medicaid waiver for long‑term home and community‑based services for people with behavioral‑health disabilities, had its appropriation struck by amendment and was rolled for further work.
House Bill 70 would require the Health Care Authority (HCA) to submit a Medicaid waiver request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to create long‑term home and community‑based services targeted to people with serious mental illness, substance use disorder, emotional disturbance or brain injury. The committee considered an amendment that removed the bill’s direct appropriation; committee members and witnesses said funding for a feasibility study exists elsewhere in the budget.
Sponsor presentation and expert testimony explained the bill is intended to create a waiver vehicle similar in concept to the developmental disabilities waiver but focused on behavioral‑health conditions that make independent living difficult. The sponsor described the amendment as striking the appropriation because “there is funding in the budget for the start of this process.”
HCA’s Medicaid director, Dana Flannery, testified the agency opposed the bill as drafted but supports a feasibility study; she recommended using the planned feasibility work to assess existing benefit packages, existing waivers and to determine which vehicle (waiver or state plan amendment) is most appropriate. HCA staff noted recent federal negotiation delays on previously submitted waivers.
Advocacy groups and providers urged the committee to proceed. Ellen Pines of the Disability Coalition supported a targeted waiver and thanked the legislature for funding feasibility work in House Bill 2. Winter Torres of New Mexico Eviction Prevention and Diversion and other advocates said the waiver could expand housing‑focused supports and prevention services. Provider representatives from Santa Maria El Mirador and the Association of Developmental Disabilities Community Providers also supported the bill, noting people with behavioral‑health needs are sometimes excluded from existing DD waiver eligibility rules.
Committee discussion covered timing and risk. HCA staff said preparing and negotiating a waiver can take about a year, with some waivers and amendments taking longer; committee members asked whether federal funding could change and whether the state would be responsible if federal matching funds were reduced. Witnesses explained waiver programs can be capped by state enrollment limits, which can limit open‑ended fiscal exposure.
After adopting the amendment that removed the appropriation, the panel decided to roll the bill for further work and follow‑up with the Health Care Authority. Committee leaders said feasibility funding exists in the budget and that additional drafting and coordination with HCA and stakeholders were needed before moving the measure forward.
What’s next: Committee rolled the bill to allow more work on administrative structure, advisory council design and to coordinate the feasibility study already funded in the budget.
