HCR 105

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 105
BY REPRESENTATIVE FREIBERG
  A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and Louisiana commercial health
        insurance payors to increase reimbursement rates for Behavioral Health Crisis
        Centers (BHCCs) operating under a Crisis Receiving Center (CRC) license.
        WHEREAS, the Louisiana Crisis Response System (LA-CRS) was established in
2022 as a statewide mental health crisis response system aligned with the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) guidelines; and
        WHEREAS, the goals of the LA-CRS are to support individuals with mental illness
who have been living in nursing facilities transition back into the community; reduce
emergency room utilization; and decrease law enforcement and justice system involvement
in the care of individuals with mental illness; and
        WHEREAS, the Louisiana Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) included in its final
design for its crisis system of care four key services, including Mobile Crisis Response,
Community Brief Crisis Support, Behavioral Health Crisis Centers, and Crisis Stabilization;
and
        WHEREAS, Behavioral Health Crisis Centers are walk-in facilities that offer
short-term crisis intervention services, which include twenty-three-hour care designed to
stabilize individuals in crisis; and
        WHEREAS, under the Louisiana Department of Health's licensing framework,
BHCCs may obtain either a Behavioral Health Service (BHS) provider license or a Crisis
Receiving Center (CRC) license; and
        WHEREAS, facilities licensed as Crisis Receiving Centers are the only facilities
authorized and staffed to offer both short-term, twenty-three-hour crisis stabilization services
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HCR NO. 105  ENROLLED
(Behavioral Health Crisis Centers) and longer-term, three through seven-day crisis care (CS)
at the same location for individuals requiring further stabilization; and
       WHEREAS, the Louisiana Medicaid fee schedule has distinct reimbursement rates
for behavioral health crisis care performed with a Behavioral Health Service license versus
a Crisis Receiving Center license in accordance with the different levels of staffing required;
and
       WHEREAS, Medicaid reimbursement rates for Behavioral Health Crisis Centers
providers operating under a Crisis Receiving Center license are inadequate to cover the cost
of the twenty-four-hour staffing model required by the Louisiana Department of Health and
the additional staffing required to care for higher-acuity patients served by BHCC-CRCs;
and
       WHEREAS, an independent, third-party rate analysis shows the total per diem cost
for a Crisis Receiving Center -licensed Behavioral Health Crisis Center to provide the first
twenty-three hours of care in compliance with state and federal regulatory staffing
requirements is one thousand one hundred sixty-three dollars, which includes costs for
clinicians, nurses, licensed prescribers, peer support specialists, and behavioral health
technicians; and
       WHEREAS, the current Louisiana Medicaid per diem reimbursement rate for a Crisis
Receiving Center -licensed Behavioral Health Crisis Center is five hundred forty-nine
dollars and forty cents; and
       WHEREAS, as a result of inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates for Crisis
Receiving Center-licensed Behavioral Health Crisis Centers, there is currently only one
provider of this type throughout Louisiana; and
       WHEREAS, other Crisis Receiving Centers have attempted to open in other regions
of the state but have been unable to open or remain viable due to inadequate Medicaid
reimbursement rates.
       THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health and Louisiana commercial health
insurance payors to increase reimbursement rates to more accurately reflect the cost of
providing crisis stabilization services at Behavioral Health Crisis Centers operating under
a Crisis Receiving Center license.
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HCR NO. 105  ENROLLED
       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and the president of the Louisiana
Association of Health Plans.
  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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