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House bill would allow Medicaid reimbursement to expand mobile crisis outreach teams statewide
Summary
House Bill 42 would direct the state to seek a Medicaid waiver so county health departments could use Medicaid funds to support Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams (MCOTs), expanding services beyond Salt Lake County to rural areas, sponsors said Jan. 25, 2018.
On Jan. 25, 2018 the Utah House considered House Bill 42, a measure the sponsor said would enable county health departments to use Medicaid funding to reimburse mobile crisis outreach teams that respond to people in mental‑health crisis where they live.
Representative Lisonbee described MCOTs as two‑person teams — typically a licensed clinical social worker paired with a peer mentor — that can go to a caller’s home, assess needs, connect individuals to services and, if necessary, arrange transportation to a hospital. He said MCOT services are currently offered mainly in Salt Lake County and that 28 counties effectively lack the service.
The sponsor framed the bill as fiscally conservative, noting that diverting Medicaid patients from emergency rooms could avoid costly ED visits (a typical ED visit was cited at about $3,000) and that the bill’s small fiscal note primarily relates to patients covered under last session’s Medicaid expansion (HB 437). The bill asks the Department of Health to seek a waiver that would make reimbursement available and thus increase the likelihood that MCOTs could be offered statewide.
Representative Lisonbee concluded his presentation and waived summation. The Speaker later announced voting would be opened on House Bill 42 as amended; the provided transcript does not include a roll‑call tally or final outcome in the supplied segments.
