NC S786

Expands the Medicaid Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program (HASP) to include freestanding psychiatric hospitals as eligible recipients of increased reimbursements, pending federal CMS approval.

Defines freestanding psychiatric hospitals as licensed facilities primarily engaged in providing inpatient psychiatric services for mental illness diagnosis and treatment, excluding state-owned and state-operated facilities.

Establishes new hospital assessments on freestanding psychiatric hospitals to fund the increased HASP reimbursements, calculated quarterly as a percentage of each hospital's costs.

Creates parallel assessment structures for freestanding psychiatric hospitals matching existing systems for public and private acute care hospitals, including modernized and health advancement assessment components.

Becomes effective on the first day of the next assessment quarter after enactment.