S105 - 2021 Appropriations Act. (SL 2021-180)

Overview: Section 9B.8A.(a) of S.L. 2021-180 directs $10,000,000 in nonrecurring funds for the 2021-2022 fiscal year of the funds appropriated in the 2021 Appropriations Act from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund to the Office of Rural Health, Division of Central Management and Support, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), to award competitive grants to hospitals to fund expanded telepsychiatry capabilities to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The expanded telepsychiatry capabilities must facilitate patient access to hospital-based virtual telepsychiatry services from a primary care provider's office, from home, or from another nonhospital setting. The Office of Rural Health must establish the procedures and criteria for awarding the grants, subject to certain limitations.

Section 9B.8A.(b) of S.L. 2021-180 requires DHHS to announce the recipients of the competitive grants and to report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services with the amount awarded to each grantee, the anticipated number of persons to be served, and the geographic area to be served as a result of expanded telepsychiatry services by May 1, 2022.

This section became effective July 1, 2021.