HB1557: relative to alcohol and drug treatment programs.

HB 1557-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2016 SESSION

16-2606

01/04

HOUSE BILL 1557-FN

AN ACT relative to alcohol and drug treatment programs.

SPONSORS: Rep. Kurk, Hills. 2

COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

ANALYSIS

This bill requires the commissioner of the department of health and human services to evaluate the cost effectiveness of alcohol and drug abuse prevention, recovery, and treatment programs which receive state or federal funds and requires programs and organizations receiving such funds to spend the moneys received on the most cost effective program, then on the second most cost effective program and successively on less cost effective programs.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

16-2606

01/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen

AN ACT relative to alcohol and drug treatment programs.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Commissioner's Duties; Cost Effectiveness of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Programs. Amend RSA 126-A:5 by inserting after paragraph XXIX the following new paragraph:

XXX. The commissioner shall evaluate the cost effectiveness of alcohol and drug abuse prevention, recovery, and treatment programs which receive state general funds or federal funds. Programs and organizations receiving such funds shall spend them as follows: moneys shall be spent on the most cost effective program until either funds are depleted or capacity or demand limitations make further funding of such program ineffective, then moneys shall be spent on the second most cost effective program and successively on less cost effective programs.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBAO 16-2606

11/25/15

HB 1557-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to alcohol and drug treatment programs.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill, as introduced, will have an indeterminable impact on state expenditures in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county and local expenditures, or on state, county, and local revenue.

METHODOLOGY:

The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill requires it to evaluate the cost effectiveness of alcohol and drug abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery programs which receive state or federal funds. Programs and organizations receiving such funds are to spend them as follows: funds shall be be spent first on the most cost-effective program until either funds are depleted or demand limitations make further funding of such program ineffective, and then on successively less cost-effective programs. The Department states that it currently assesses effectiveness by incorporating National Outcome Measurements (NOM) in its procurements for prevention, treatment, and recovery services, but notes that NOMs focus on "effectiveness" rather than "cost effectiveness." The Department further notes that the bill does not define the criteria for assessing cost-effective programs, and that there is currently no data tool available to define or evaluate the cost-effectiveness of such programs in New Hampshire. The Department is unable to quantify administrative costs related to the creation, evaluation, and assessment of such a data tool.