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Senate approves amended mental‑health services bill to target high‑acuity patients
Summary
After extended floor debate and a substitution shifting fund routing, the Senate adopted second substitute SB 89 to create a mechanism for connecting high‑acuity Utahns to care through the University of Utah’s neuropsychiatric institute; sponsors said private fundraising and a separate appropriation will support expansion.
The Utah State Senate on Feb. 14 approved second substitute Senate Bill 89, an amendment that alters how certain mental‑health services are organized and funded to reach people in high crisis who fall outside Medicaid or insurance coverage.
Senator Thatcher, sponsor of the measure, told colleagues the bill creates an account and mechanism to connect ‘‘high acuity’’ patients with care through the University of Utah’s Neuropsychiatric Institute. Thatcher said the proposal aims to fill gaps that leave some patients without treatment, arguing the work is central to the state’s duty to ‘‘preserve the individual unalienable God given right to life and liberty and pursue happiness.’’
Several senators pressed the sponsor about the bill’s funding. Senator Hilliard noted the fiscal note appeared small and asked whether the state would appropriate ongoing money; Thatcher said the small fiscal note funds creation of an account for private fundraising and that a separate appropriation request is pending. ‘‘Our intent is to get sufficient funding for those 1 to 2 high acuity people per week,’’ Thatcher said, describing that initial caseload as the program’s starting point.
On the floor, the sponsor moved to delete the first substitute in title and body and replace it with a second substitute that directs funds to flow first through the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse before contracts with the university. Thatcher said that change responded to the university’s internal budget procedure request and that the vehicle would still allow private fundraising to support services if an appropriation is not immediately provided.
Senator Fillmore asked whether the bill is properly described as a ‘‘pilot’’; Thatcher replied the term was a shorthand for the limited initial caseload and the plan to use early data to expand services over time. The second substitute carried on voice vote, and the bill was read a third time. The Senate recorded 25 yeas, 0 nays, with 4 absent on the second substitute.
The measure as adopted establishes an account and an administrative routing for funds; the appropriation needed to scale services remains separate and was described on the floor as not part of the bill itself. The sponsor said data from early service delivery would be used to pursue further funding and to expand coverage beyond the initial high‑acuity group.
The Senate recessed after completing the day’s business; the bill will be transmitted to the House for its consideration.
