RCW 41.05.018
Findings-Intent- 2018 c 201 : "The legislature finds that:
(1) Washington state government must be organized to be efficient, cost-effective, and responsive to its residents.
(2) Pursuant to existing legislative direction, Washington state continues to transform how it delivers behavioral health services by integrating the financing and delivery of behavioral and physical health care by 2020. Integration will improve prevention and treatment of behavioral health conditions. Integration, leading to better whole person care, should also enable many individuals to avoid commitment at the state psychiatric hospitals or divert from jails, and support them in leading healthy, productive lives.
(3) The responsibility for oversight, purchasing, and management of Washington state's community behavioral health system is currently split between the department of social and health services, which is the state's behavioral health authority, and the health care authority, which is the single state medicaid agency responsible for state health care purchasing.
(4) The health care authority is the state's primary health care purchaser. Integrating and consolidating the oversight and purchasing of state behavioral health care into a single state agency at the health care authority will align core operations and provide better, coordinated, and more cost-effective services, with the ultimate goal of achieving whole person care.
(5) The legislature therefore intends to consolidate state behavioral health care purchasing and oversight within the health care authority, positioning the state to use its full purchasing power to get the greatest value for its investment. The department of social and health services will continue to operate the state mental health institutions, with the intent of further analyzing the future proper alignment of these services.
(6) Similar to the issues with our disparate purchasing programs, the responsibility for licensing and certification of behavioral health providers and facilities is currently spread across multiple agencies, with the department of social and health services regulating some behavioral health providers and the department of health regulating others.
(7) The department of health is responsible for the majority of licensing and certification of health care providers and facilities. The state will best be able to ensure patient safety and reduce administrative burdens of licensing and certification of behavioral health providers and facilities by consolidating those functions within a single agency at the department of health. This change will streamline processes leading to improved patient safety outcomes.
(8) The legislature therefore intends to integrate and consolidate the behavioral health licensing and certification functions within the department of health." [2018 c 201 s 1001.]
Effective date- 2018 c 201 : "Except as provided in section 11005 of this act, this act takes effect July 1, 2018." [2018 c 201 s 11006.]