An Act To Create the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0080
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: PERRY, BRENNAN, HERBIG, ALLEY, COREY, CRAVEN, HANDY, CHIPMAN
Amends: 2 MRSA §6, 5 MRSA §20002, 5 MRSA §20002-A, 5 MRSA §20003, 5 MRSA §20005, 5 MRSA §20006-A, 5 MRSA §20023, 22-A MRSA §201, 22-A MRSA §203, 22-A MRSA §206, 22-A MRSA §207

Legislative Document
No. 80
H.P. 66
House of Representatives, January 15, 2019
An Act To Create the Department of Substance Use Disorder 
Services
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PERRY of Calais.
Cosponsored by Representative BRENNAN of Portland, Senator HERBIG of Waldo and
Representatives: ALLEY of Beals, COREY of Windham, CRAVEN of Lewiston, HANDY of 
Lewiston, Senators: CHIPMAN of Cumberland, SANBORN, L. of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  2 MRSA §6, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. Y, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Range 91.  The salaries of the following state officials and employees are within 
salary range 91:
Commissioner of Transportation;
Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry;
Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services;
Commissioner of Education;
Commissioner of Environmental Protection;
Executive Director of Dirigo Health;
Commissioner of Public Safety;
Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation;
Commissioner of Labor;
Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife;
Commissioner of Marine Resources;
Commissioner of Corrections;
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development;
Commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management; and
Executive Director, Workers' Compensation Board.; and
Commissioner of Substance Use Disorder Services.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §20002, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §12, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Coordination of activities and services.  To establish within the Department of 
Health and Human Substance Use Disorder Services the responsibility for planning, 
developing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating all of the State's substance use 
disorder prevention and treatment activities and services;
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §20002-A is enacted to read:
§20002-A.  Department of Substance Use Disorder Services established
The Department of Substance Use Disorder Services is established as a cabinet-level 
department.
Sec. 4.  5 MRSA §20003, sub-§3-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, §9, 
is further amended to read:
3-B.  Commissioner.  "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health and 
Human Substance Use Disorder Services.
Sec. 5.  5 MRSA §20003, sub-§6, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, §10, is 
further amended to read:
6.  Department.  "Department" means the Department of Health and Human 
Substance Use Disorder Services.
Sec. 6.  5 MRSA §20005, sub-§14-A is enacted to read:
14-A.  Cooperation with the Department of Health and Human Services.  
Establish cooperative or contractual relationships with offices within the Department of 
Health and Human Services that provide services to individuals with substance use 
disorder including but not limited to services under Medicaid, programs for individuals 
without insurance and licensing, prevention or planning services and programs;
Sec. 7.  5 MRSA §20006-A, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. AA, 
§23, is further amended to read:
3.  Other duties and powers.  Carry out other duties and exercise other powers 
granted to the commissioner under this Act and under Title 22-A, section 207, subsection 
3.
Sec. 8.  5 MRSA §20023, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §35, is further 
amended to read:
§20023.  Education
To the fullest extent possible, the Commissioner of Education shall coordinate all 
elementary and secondary school substance use disorder education programs 
administered by the Department of Education and funded under the federal Drug-Free 
Schools and Communities Act of 1986 with programs administered by the Department of 
Health and Human Services and the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services.  
The Commissioner of Education shall participate in planning, budgeting and evaluation 
of substance use disorder programs and ensure that substance use disorder education 
programs administered by the Department of Education that involve any community 
participation are coordinated with available treatment services.
Nothing in this section interferes with the authority of the Department of Education to 
receive and allocate federal funds under the federal Drug-Free Schools and Communities 
Act of 1986.
Sec. 9.  22-A MRSA §201, sub-§2-A, ¶C, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, 
§89, is further amended to read:
C.  Integrated services responsibilities, including but not limited to: 
(1)  Adult and elder services, including but not limited to aging, substance use 
disorder, mental health and disability services;
(2)  Child and family services responsibilities, including but not limited to child 
welfare, children's behavioral health and early childhood services; and
(3)  Regional operations.
Sec. 10.  22-A MRSA §203, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §90, 
is further amended to read:
1.  Programs and services for adults, children and families.  The department shall 
provide adults, children and families with the following programs and services:
A.  Economic assistance and employment support services;
B.  Mental health and behavioral health services;
C.  Developmental disability services;
D.  Physical health services; and
E.  Public health services; and.
F.  Substance use disorder prevention and treatment services.
Sec. 11.  22-A MRSA §206, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §91, 
is repealed.
Sec. 12.  22-A MRSA §207, sub-§7, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §92, 
is further amended to read:
7.  Contracts with health care servicing entities.  The commissioner may enter into 
contracts with health care servicing entities for the financing, management and oversight 
of the delivery of mental health, and adult developmental and substance use disorder 
services to clients pursuant to a state or federally sponsored health program in which the 
department participates or that the department administers.  For the purposes of this 
subsection, "health care servicing entity" means a partnership, association, corporation, 
limited liability company or other legal entity that enters into a contract with the State to 
provide or arrange for the provision of a defined set of health care services; to assume 
responsibility for some aspects of quality assurance, utilization review, provider 
credentialing and provider relations or other related network management functions; and 
to assume financial risk for provision of such services to clients through capitation 
reimbursement or other risk-sharing arrangements.  "Health care servicing entity" does 
not include insurers or health maintenance organizations.  In contracting with health care 
servicing entities, the commissioner:
A.  Shall include in all contracts with the health care servicing entities standards, 
developed in consultation with the Superintendent of Insurance, to be met by the 
contracting entity in the areas of financial solvency, quality assurance, utilization 
review, network sufficiency, access to services, network performance, complaint and 
grievance procedures and records maintenance;
B.  Prior to contracting with any health care servicing entity, must have in place a 
memorandum of understanding with the Superintendent of Insurance for the 
provision of technical assistance, which must provide for the sharing of information 
between the department and the superintendent and the analysis of that information 
by the superintendent as it relates to the fiscal integrity of the contracting entity;
C.  May require periodic reporting by the health care servicing entity as to activities 
and operations of the entity, including the entity's activities undertaken pursuant to 
commercial contracts with licensed insurers and health maintenance organizations;
D.  May share with the Superintendent of Insurance all documents filed by the health 
care servicing entity, including documents subject to confidential treatment if the 
information is treated with the same degree of confidentiality as is required of the 
department; and
E.  May make all necessary rules for the administration of contracts with health care 
servicing entities. All rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical 
rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services as a separate 
cabinet-level department.  It removes from the Department of Health and Human 
Services, and transfers to the Department of Substance Use Disorder Services, functions 
and services for individuals with substance use disorders, prevention programs and 
administrative assistance for the Substance Use Disorder Services Commission.