The 2012 Missouri state legislative session ended May 18. This means that all bills listed below as killed are now truly dead (for this year.) Bills that are listed as passed have been passed by both houses of the legislature but still need to be signed by the Governor. He has until mid-July to sign or veto all bills presented. For more information about each bill, including its full text, go to http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx and search on the bill number (e.g. “SB 446”).
PRO-PSYCH BILLS KILLED for the 2012 session
SB 446
Specifies that drug courts may be funded by the county law enforcement restitution fund.
SB 500
Modifies state legal expense coverage of certain health professionals and modifies hospital patient safety policies. This act provides coverage under the state legal expense fund for any licensed doctor, therapist, dentist, podiatrist, optometrist, pharmacist, psychologist, or nurse who is hired on a contract basis to serve as a consultant for the MO HealthNet division or family support division of the Department of Social Services, or to serve as a consultant to the Department of Mental Health.
SB 518
Creates a mental health assessment pilot program for criminal offenders.
HB 1322
Authorizes the Director of the Department of Corrections to establish, as a three-year pilot program, a mental health assessment process.
HB 1456
Authorizes the Department of Corrections to establish a mental health assessment pilot program for certain criminal offenders.
SB 634
Requires insurer to provide coverage for eating disorders.
HB 1509
Requires all health insurance carriers and health benefit plans to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders.
SB 710
Establishes a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. Includes treatment for impaired professionals.
HB 1122
Establishes the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Act to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances.
HB 1193
Establishes the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Act to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances.
HB 1372
Changes the laws regarding the dispensing of controlled substances and establishes the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Act.
SB 768
This act authorizes circuit courts or a combination of circuits to create veterans treatment courts. These courts will dispose of cases involving substance abuse or mental illness of current or former military personnel. Treatment referrals by the court shall be through the Department of Defense health care, Veterans Administration, or community-based treatment programs. The court shall dismiss, reduce, or modify the charges against the participant upon successful completion of a treatment program. Community based treatment programs must use programs certified by the Missouri Department of Mental Health unless no certified program is located in the same county as the court. Community based programs shall receive state or federal funds for referrals from veterans treatment courts.
HB 1110
Allows a circuit court to establish a veterans treatment court to dispose of criminal cases which stem from substance abuse or mental illness of military veterans or current military personnel.
HB 1032
Adds a licensed professional counselor to the list of those authorized to conduct a full investigation into whether an individual is suitable as an adoptive parent.
HB 1082
Specifies that licensed professional counseling includes the diagnosis of mental, emotional, and behavior disorders and requires these counselors to complete certain educational coursework.
HB 1583
Authorizes the juvenile court to order psychiatric evaluations of a juvenile and to order admittance to a mental health facility upon the recommendation of specified evaluations.
ANTI-PSYCH BILLS PASSED for the 2012 session
HB 1318
Prohibits a state employee working in a maximum or medium security mental health facility from being required to work more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period, although the final version had the guts taken out of it by allowing it in a “work-force shortage.â€
HB 1608
Repeals provisions and sections of law regarding unfunded and obsolete programs and establishes expiration dates for specified provisions. Includes some psych programs among those being axed:
The Student Suicide Prevention Grant Program (Section 161.235);
The requirement that licensed physicians providing obstetrical or gynecological care to a pregnant woman counsel all patients as to the perinatal effects of cigarettes, alcohol, and controlled substances and that the Department of Health and Senior Services establish a toll-free information line to provide information on resources for substance abuse treatment, establish protocols based on a risk assessment profile to be used by health care providers to identify high risk pregnancies, and conduct periodic tests on a sample of women or infants at the time of delivery. (Sections 191.727, 191.733, 191.735, 191.741, and 191.745)