BIG RAPIDS — Community Mental Health for Central Michigan is requesting support from the Mecosta County Board of Commissioners with a resolution opposing two pieces of legislation in the Michigan House and Senate.
House Bill 4925 would amend the Mental Health Code to create a Behavioral Health Oversight Council within the Department of Health and Human Services to advise DHHS in developing and executing public behavioral health policies, programs, and services.
It would also authorize DHHS to contract with an administrative services organization, which would assume certain responsibilities from DHHS and DHHS-designated community mental health entities.
House Bills 4925 through 4929 would have a significant fiscal impact by moving to an ASO instead of utilizing 10 prepaid inpatient health plans.
Local PIHPs and their network of community mental health services programs currently manage Medicaid-funded specialty behavioral health supports and services.
With an ASO administering specialty behavioral health supports and services, the local CMHSPs would no longer be responsible for, and no longer be reimbursed for, the administrative costs of managing Medicaid-funded specialty behavioral health supports and services.
Senate Bill 597 would amend the Social Welfare Act to require the DHHS to integrate the administration and provision of Medicaid physical health care services and behavioral health specialty services through the creation of specialty integrated plans, and to contract with each CMHSP within its service area to provide behavioral health specialty services.
Senate Bill 598 would amend the Mental Health Code to include SIPs as well as local public behavioral health entities as eligible providers of publicly funded behavioral health services, and require the DHHS to establish a competitive contract and procurement process that outlined the eligibility requirements for entities to apply to provide services as a SIP.
Under the bill, both physical health and behavioral health Medicaid coverage for these populations eventually would be exclusively covered by the SIPs.
The function of the PIHPs would be phased out as responsibility for Medicaid behavioral health services for these populations.
“We are here today to ask for your support of a resolution …….