Peer support services—Access

(1) The authority shall contract with one or more external entities to expand access to peer support services. (2) Beginning December 31, 2025, the entity or entities shall: (a) Provide technical assistance to support primary care clinics, urgent care clinics, and hospitals to integrate certified peer support specialists into their clinical care models and bill health insurance carriers for those services; (b) Develop detailed and innovative proposals to create low barrier and cost-effective opportunities for: (i) Community-based agencies, including peer-run agencies and organizations that are not currently licensed as behavioral health agencies under chapter 71.24 RCW, to bill health carriers for peer support services; (ii) Service providers to bill health carriers for behavioral health services that are currently funded by the state general fund, including the law enforcement assisted diversion program established under RCW 71.24.589, the recovery navigator program established under RCW 71.24.115, the arrest and jail alternatives program established under RCW 36.28A.450, and the homeless outreach stabilization transition program established under RCW 71.24.145; (iii) Community-based victim services agencies, including agencies that support domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking victims, to bill health carriers for peer support services provided to victims of gender-based violence; and(iv) Tribes, tribal health providers, and urban Indian health programs to bill for peer support services provided by tribal elders; (c) Develop a proposal to establish the concept of, and billing mechanisms for, substance use disorder peer-run respite centers that are modeled after the mental health peer-run respite centers established under RCW 71.24.649; and(d) Explore options for health carriers to pay for peer support services through capitated payment arrangements rather than on a fee-for-service basis. (3) By November 1, 2026, the contracted entity or entities shall submit reports to the authority to describe the type and quantity of technical assistance that have been provided, the proposals that have been developed, and the trends in health carriers providing payment for peer support services, and any policy or budget recommendations to encourage health carriers to reimburse providers for peer support services.