Public Act 103-0690
 
HB5094 EnrolledLRB103 38039 RTM 68171 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
Workforce Direct Care Expansion Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose and findings. 
    (a) The General Assembly finds that: 
        (1) Administrative activities include processes that 
    require behavioral health professionals and their clients 
    to repeat data collection processes and adhere to a vast 
    and uncoordinated array of requirements. 
        (2) Not only is this duplication a burden on the time 
    and resources of behavioral health professionals, but data 
    collection can also be re-traumatizing to clients as they 
    repeat their presenting problems multiple times to various 
    professionals. 
        (3) Duplication and burden also lead to longer 
    admission processes, leaving behavioral health 
    professionals less time to provide crucial treatment. 
        (4) In behavioral health care, compliance with heavily 
    regulated industry standards falls squarely on the 
    shoulders of those providing direct services to 
    individuals. 
        (5) Behavioral health professionals have gone far too 
    long without reasonable reform, causing capable workers to 
    become overwhelmed and leave their jobs or the behavioral 
    health industry altogether. 
        (6) One of the greatest complaints from behavioral 
    health professionals is the amount of administrative 
    responsibilities that lead to less time with their 
    clients. 
        (7) Clinician burnout, if not addressed, will make it 
    harder for individuals to get care when they need it, 
    cause health costs to rise, and worsen health disparities. 
        (8) Behavioral health professionals dedicate their 
    expertise to addressing mental health and substance use 
    challenges and that it is essential to streamline 
    administrative processes to enable them to focus more on 
    client care and treatment. 
        (9) Administrative burdens can contribute to workforce 
    challenges in the behavioral health sector. 
    (b) The purpose of this Act is to: 
        (1) Alleviate the administrative burden placed on 
    behavioral health professionals in Illinois and devise an 
    efficient system that enhances client-centered services. 
    Behavioral health professionals play a critical role in 
    promoting mental health and well-being within Illinois 
    communities. 
        (2) Foster a collaborative and client-centered 
    approach by encouraging communication and coordination 
    among behavioral health professionals, regulatory bodies, 
    and relevant stakeholders. 
        (3) Make a heavy lift more bearable. 
        (4) Address paperwork fatigue that leads to burnout. 
        (5) Enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of 
    behavioral health services by reducing unnecessary 
    paperwork, bureaucratic hurdles, and redundant 
    administrative requirements that may impede the delivery 
    of timely and quality care. 
        (6) Attract and retain skilled behavioral health 
    professionals and ultimately improve access to mental 
    health and substance use services for the residents of 
    Illinois. 
        (7) Align with the State's commitment to promoting 
    mental health and substance use services, reducing 
    barriers to care, and ensuring that behavioral health 
    professionals can dedicate more time and resources to 
    meeting the diverse needs of individuals and communities 
    across Illinois. 
        (8) Enhance the overall effectiveness of the 
    behavioral health sector to improve mental health outcomes 
    and levels of well-being for all residents of the State.
 
    Section 10. The Behavioral Health Administrative Burden 
Task Force. 
    (a) The Behavioral Health Administrative Burden Task Force 
is established within the Office of the Chief Behavioral 
Health Officer, in partnership with the Department of Human 
Services Division of Mental Health and Division of Substance 
Use Prevention and Recovery, the Department of Healthcare and 
Family Services, the Department of Children and Family 
Services, and the Department of Public Health. 
    (b) The Task Force shall review policies and regulations 
affecting the behavioral health industry to identify 
inefficiencies, duplicate or unnecessary requirements, unduly 
burdensome restrictions, and other administrative barriers 
that prevent behavioral health professionals from providing 
services.
    (c) The Task Force shall analyze the impact of 
administrative burdens on the delivery of quality care and 
access to behavioral health services by:
        (1) collecting data on the administrative tasks, 
    paperwork, and reporting requirements currently imposed on 
    behavioral health professionals in Illinois; 
        (2) engaging with behavioral health professionals, 
    including providers of all relevant license and 
    certification types, to gather input on specific 
    administrative challenges they face; 
        (3) seeking input from clients and service recipients 
    to understand the impact of administrative requirements on 
    their care; and
        (4) conducting a comparative analysis of documentation 
    requirements with other geographic jurisdictions. 
    (d) The Task Force shall collaborate with relevant State 
agencies to identify areas where administrative processes can 
be standardized and harmonized by:
        (1) researching best practices and successful 
    administrative burden reduction models from other states 
    or jurisdictions; 
        (2) unifying administrative requirements, such as 
    screening, assessment, treatment planning, and personnel 
    requirements, including background checks, where possible 
    among state bodies; and
        (3) identifying and seeking to replicate reform 
    efforts that have been successful in other jurisdictions. 
    (e) The Task Force shall identify innovative technologies 
and tools that can help automate and streamline administrative 
tasks and explore the potential for interagency data sharing 
and integration to reduce redundant reporting by:
        (1) researching best practices around shared data 
    platforms to improve the delivery of behavioral health 
    services and ensure that such platforms do not result in a 
    duplication of data entry, including coverage of any 
    relevant software costs to avoid duplication; 
        (2) facilitating the secure exchange of client 
    information, treatment plans, and service coordination 
    among health care providers, behavioral health facilities, 
    State-level regulatory bodies, and other relevant 
    entities; 
        (3) reducing administrative burdens and duplicative 
    data entry for service providers; 
        (4) ensuring compliance with federal and state privacy 
    regulations, including the Health Insurance Portability 
    and Accountability Act, 42 CFR Part 2, and other relevant 
    laws and regulations; and
        (5) improving access to timely client care, with an 
    emphasis on clients receiving services under the Medical 
    Assistance Program. 
    (f) The Task Force shall eliminate documentation 
redundancy and coordinate the sharing of information among 
State agencies by:
        (1) standardizing forms at the State-level to simplify 
    access, reduce administrative burden, ensure consistency, 
    and unify requirements across all behavioral health 
    provider types where possible; 
        (2) identifying areas where standardized language 
    would be allowable so that staff can focus on 
    individualizing relevant components of documentation; 
        (3) reducing and standardizing, when possible, the 
    information required for assessments and treatment plan 
    goals and consolidate documentation required in these 
    areas for mental health and substance use clients; 
        (4) evaluating, reducing, and streamlining information 
    collected for the registration process, including the 
    process for uploading information and resolving errors;
        (5) reducing the number of data fields that must be 
    repeated across forms; and
        (6) streamlining State-level reporting requirements 
    for federal and State grants and remove unnecessary 
    reporting requirements for provider grants funded with 
    state or federal dollars where possible. 
    (g) The Task Force shall develop recommendations for 
legislative or regulatory changes that can reduce 
administrative burdens while maintaining client safety and 
quality of care by: 
        (1) advocating for parity across settings and 
    regulatory entities, including among community, private 
    practice, and State-operated settings; 
        (2) identifying opportunities for reporting 
    efficiencies or technology solutions to share data across 
    reports; 
        (3) evaluating and considering opportunities to 
    simplify funding and seek legislative reform to align 
    requirements across funding streams and regulatory 
    entities; and
        (4) recommending procedures for more flexibility with 
    deadlines where justified. 
    (h) The Task Force shall participate in statewide efforts 
to integrate mental health and substance use disorder 
administrative functions.
 
    Section 15. Membership. The Task Force shall be chaired by 
Illinois' Chief Behavioral Health Officer or the Officer's 
designee. The chair of the Task Force may designate a 
nongovernmental entity or entities to provide pro bono 
administrative support to the Task Force. Except as otherwise 
provided in this Section, members of the Task Force shall be 
appointed by the chair. The Task Force shall consist of at 
least 15 members, including, but not limited to, the 
following:
        (1) community mental health and substance use 
    providers representing geographical regions across the 
    State; 
        (2) representatives of statewide associations that 
    represent behavioral health providers;
        (3) representatives of advocacy organizations either 
    led by or consisting primarily of individuals with lived 
    experience; 
        (4) a representative from the Division of Mental 
    Health in the Department of Human Services; 
        (5) a representative from the Division of Substance 
    Use Prevention and Recovery in the Department of Human 
    Services; 
        (6) a representative from the Department of Children 
    and Family Services; 
        (7) a representative from the Department of Public 
    Health; 
        (8) One member of the House of Representatives, 
    appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
        (9) One member of the House of Representatives, 
    appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of 
    Representatives; 
        (10) One member of the Senate, appointed by the 
    President of the Senate; and 
        (11) One member of the Senate, appointed by the 
    Minority Leader of the Senate.
 
    Section 20. Meetings. Beginning no later than 6 months 
after the effective date of this Act, the Task Force shall meet 
monthly, or additionally as needed, to conduct its business. 
Members of the Task Force shall serve without compensation but 
may receive reimbursement for necessary expenses.
 
    Section 25. Administrative burden reduction plan. The Task 
Force shall, within one year after its first meeting, prepare 
an administrative burden reduction plan, which shall include 
short-term and long-term policy recommendations aimed at 
reducing duplicative, unnecessary, or redundant requirements 
placed on behavioral health providers and improving timely 
access to care. The administrative burden reduction plan shall 
be submitted to any relevant State agency whose participation 
would be necessary to implement any component of the plan and 
shall be made publicly available online. No later than 90 days 
after receipt of the plan, each State agency whose 
participation would be necessary to implement any component of 
the plan shall submit a detailed response to the General 
Assembly about the recommendations in the administrative 
burden reduction plan, including an explanation about the 
feasibility of implementing the recommendations and shall make 
these responses publicly available online.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.