SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
1
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
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SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
2
Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health
Financing News Arizona
Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Bill Eliminating Arizona222s Medicaid Agency
: On February
23, the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee
approved legislation (
SB 1519
) that would eliminate
the
Ariz
ona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS)
, the state222s Medicaid agency
.
Under the
bill,
Arizona
would forgo $7.5 billion in federal Medicaid funding
and
direct
the
$2 billion
that the state
currently
spends on
Medicaid
into
the state222s general fund
. The bill would earmark
$1 billion in
state
funds for
behavioral health services, services for
the developmentally disabled
,
and
health services for
low
-
income individuals
.
The bill is now
before the
Senate Rules Committee ( The Arizona Republic, 2/25 ; Ka
iser Health News, 2/25 ; The Arizona Republic, 2/23 ; Kaiser Health News, 2/24 ).
California
Update: Redondo Beach School District
Approves MOU for School
-
Based Mental Health Services
: On
February 22, the
Board of Education for the
Redondo Beach
Unified School District
approved a
memorandum of und
erstanding (MOU) under which
the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department
will
provide mental health services to
district students with disabilities
. Under the MOU, Los Angeles
County will provide services through the end of the current school year at a cost
not to exceed
$700,000. Funding for the services was disrupted when former
Governor
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
(R)
signed the $87.5 billion FY2011 budget. Using a line
-
item veto, Governor Schwarzenegger eliminated
$133 million slated to provide mental health services for special education students. County mental
health departments previously used the state funding to administer programs offering crisis counseling,
case management, medication management, and residential placement ( The Beach Reporter, 2/23 ).
Florida
Transitional Living Center Opens in Fort Myers
: Southwest Florida Addiction Services has opened a 16
-
bed transitional living center in Fort Myers, se
rving
individuals with substance abuse issues. Built
with
private donations and a $463,000 State Housing Initiatives Partnership grant, t
he center offers housing,
substance abuse treatment, and recovery
support services. Center officials say state and county funding
will subsidize 10 of the center222s 16 beds ( Naples Daily News, 2/24 ).
Georgia
Update: Senate Approves Bill
to Study Individual Market Service Mandate
s
;
House Committee
Approves Bill Allowing Insurers to Offer Out of State Health Plans
: On February 24, the Georgia Senate
approved legislation (
SB 17) that would establish a commission to study the effect of
Georgia222s
requirement that indi
vidual health plans offer
coverage for certain services. Lawmakers supportive of
the
measure say the mandate increase
s
health
care
costs.
Also on February 24, the
Georgia House
Insurance Committee
approved legislation (
HB 47
) that would allow insurers to
offer individual market
health plans offered in other states, even if they do not
cover
all of Georgia222s mandated services.
Lawmakers supportive of the measure say it would reduce health care costs. Both bills now go
before
the
Georgia House
( The Atlanta Journal
-
Constitution, 2/24 ; Kaiser He
alth News, 2/25 ; Georgia Health News, 2/25 ).
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
3
New York Firm Settles Georgia
222s
Medicaid Fraud Allegations
:
On February 22,
Georgia
officials
announced a $13 million s
ettlement with a New York firm accused of defrauding Georgia222s Medicaid
program. Under the agreement, APS Healthcare Midwest will pay Georgia $7.8 million
to settle
allegations
that
the company overbilled the state222s Medicaid program and failed to uphold
its
contractual obligation
s
to provide case and disease management to Medicaid beneficiaries. APS will
also
pay the federal government $5.2 million
under the same agreement
( The Wall Street Journal, 2/23 ).
Hawaii
Governor Proposes $22.7 Billion Biennial Budget
Cutting
Medicaid
by
$75 Million
: On February 22,
Governor Neil Abercrombie
(D) proposed a $22.7 billion budget for the next biennium, increasing
spending
5 perce
nt over current
-
year
levels. The budget would cut Medicaid funding by $75 million
over two years. In addition, the budget would include
$13 million to fund
Medicaid benefits for Pacific
island residents that migrate to Hawaii. The budget now goes before
the
Hawaii Legislature
( AP via Bloomberg, 2/22 ; Hawaii News Now, 2/21 ).
Six Kauai Organizations Receive Behavioral Health Funding
: The
Hawaii Department of Health222s
(DOH)
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Division
has awarded six Kauai organizations a total of $530,000 in Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHS
A)
funding. Allocated for substance abuse
prevention programming,
Alu Like, the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, Circles of Light, Hale Kipa, Kauai
Economic Opportunity
,
and the Young Women222s Christian Association of Kauai received funding ( NECN, 2/22 ).
Illinois
Update: Quinn Administration Announces Scaled Back Current
-
Year
Substance Abuse Cuts
: On
Fe
bruary 24,
Governor Pat Quinn222s
(D)
Administration
announced
plans to make smaller-
than
-
anticipated cuts to current
-
year substance abuse treatment funding. Instead of the $208 million in cuts
originally scheduled for
March 15
, Governor Quinn222s Administration plans to cut substance abuse
treatment funding by $100 million. State officials say the change is possible
because of increased
federal funding and modifications
to the state222s staffing plan
. Illinois Department of Human Services
(DHS) officials say they will notify providers regarding specific
s
prior to implementing the cuts
. The
current
-
year cuts come
in addition to those that
Governor Quinn proposed in his FY2012 budget
, which
would eliminate all $55 million
that Illinois spends
on substance abuse
treatment
from
the
state222s
general revenue
fund
( AP via Business Week, 2/24 ; The News
-
Gazette, 2/26 ; The State Journal
-
Register, 2/25 ).
Massachusetts
EOPSS Awards Middlesex Sheriffs222 De
partment
$30,000 RSAT Grant
: The Massachusetts Executive
Office of Public Safety and Security
(EOPSS) has awarded a $30,000 residential substance abuse
treatment (RSAT) grant to the Middlesex Sheriffs222 Department. Running
through February 2012, the
grant
will finance a program offering substance abuse treatment and skills training to inmates in
Middlesex
( Th
e Medford Transcript, 2/22 ).
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
4
Nebraska
Legislature Approves PDMP
Bill
: On February 22, the
Nebraska Legislature
approved legislation (
LB
237
) to establish a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) in Nebraska. The bill would establish a
real-
time
PD
MP
to help
physicians and pharmacists share information and prevent prescription drug
abuse. The legislature
must approve the bill
a total of three times
before it goes to
Governor Dave
Heineman
(R) ( NECN, 2/22 ).
New Jersey
Governor Proposes Budget
with
Medicaid
Cuts
: On February 22,
Governor Chris Christie
(R) proposed a
$29.4 billion budget for the
upcoming fiscal year,
reducing funding
2.6 percent from current
-
year
levels.
The budget would
reduce Medicaid funding by approximately
$540 million
. Among other changes, the
cuts would increas
e
the
use of managed care
,
reduce
nursing home
reimbursement
rates, and increase
fraud reduction
efforts
.
The Medicaid cuts
would
also
include $300 million in savings
from
a proposed
federal waiver to reform New Jersey222s
Medicaid program in an as
-
yet undetermined fashion. In
addition, the budget would
provide
$30
million
to finance new housing for individuals with mental
illnesses and developmental disabilities.
The budget now goes before the
New Jersey Legislature ( The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/23 ; The Wall Street Journal, 2/23 ; Kaiser Health News, 2/23 ; The Star
-
Ledger, 2/23 ).
New York
Update: Medicaid Redesign Team Offers Final Cost
-
Cutting Recommendations
: On February 24, New
York222s Medicaid Redesign Team adopted final
recommendations
designed to lower Medicaid costs.
Convened by Governor Andrew Cuomo
(D),
the team proposed spending $52.8 billion on Medicaid in
FY2012, a reduction of $982 million, or 2 percent, from FY2011
spending levels
. The
team222s
recommendations include limiting state Medicaid expenditures to approx
imately $15.1 billion annually,
partially by reducing
reimbursements
for providers
that bill above
predetermined
spending caps
. The
panel also proposes moving the state222s 4.7 million Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care plans over
three years. The recommendations will be incorporated int
o Governor Cuomo222s FY2012 budget
proposal
, which is now before the
New York State Legislature ( Reuters, 2/25 ; Kaiser Health News, 2/25 ).
Mental Health Clinic Closing in Watertown
: Mercy Behavioral Health and Wellness Inc.222s mental health
clinic in Watertown will close on June 30. To fill the
service
gap
created
by that closure, the Jefferson
County Community Services Board selected Children222s Home to operate a replacement mental health
clinic for
children and adults. Under the agreement, Children222s Home will serve approximate
ly 1,500
clients annually and
is permitted to
construct a new facility for up to $3 million ( Watertown Daily Times, 2/24 ).
North Carolina
Update: House Approves Bill Barring Individual Insurance Mandate
: On February 22, the North
Carolina House approved legislation (
HB 2
) that would bar any law requiring an individual to obtain
health insurance or interfering with an individual222s right to pay for health services directly.
Previously
approved by the
North Carolina Senate and d
esigned to challenge the national health care reform law222s
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
5
individual insurance mandate, if approved, the bill would be symbolic because federal law would
supersede it. The bill would also require At
torney General Roy Cooper
(D) to challenge the national
health care reform law in court. The bill now goes before
Governor Beverly Perdue
(D) ( AP via Bloomberg, 2/23 ).
North Dakot
a
Senate Approves DHS Budget
w
ith Expanded CHIP Eligibility: On February 23, the
North Dakota Senate
approved
North Dakota Department of Human Services222
(DHS)
budget for the next fiscal year. The
budget would expand Children222s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility from 160 percent of the
federal poverty level (FPL) to 175 percent of the FPL.
The budget
would
also alter rules governing
spending
from
the state222s Co
mmunity Health
T
rust
F
und, originally established
through
a settlement
with tobacco comp
anies. The budget would eliminate the requirement that
80 percent of the fund
finance
tobacco prevention programming. Instead, the budget would allocate some of the funding to
the
treatment
of
tobacco
-
related illness
es
. The DHS budget now goes before th
e
North Dakota Senate
( AP via Bloomberg, 2/24 ; CNBC, 2/23 ).
Pennsylvania
Update: adultBasic Program Ends
:
After exhausting state funding, t
he
adultBasic
state health program
ended
February 28
.
Previously providing
health
care
for adults earning up to 200 percent of the federal
poverty level (FPL)
, adultBasic
expired because state officials were un
able to reach a deal with
Pennsylvania222s
Blue Cross and Blue Shield
(BCBS) plans. Governor Tom Corbett222s
(R)
Administration
asked
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
for increased
funding and broader eligibility standards for Pennsylvania222s high
-
risk insurance pool
to allow the
state
to
cover
former
adultBasic beneficiaries
; h
owever,
Secretary Sebelius rejected that request on February 4
( Kaiser Health News, 2/23 ).
South Carolina
House Budget Committee Approves Spending Plan
with
Medicaid
Cuts
: On February 24, the
South
Carolina House Budget Committee
approved a $5.2 billion spending plan fo
r the next fiscal year. The
plan would reduce Medicaid spending by $201 million. Those savings
would
include $125
million
in
Medicaid reimbursement reductions for
doctors and hospitals and $36 million
in temporary savings
achieved
through delayed payment
s to managed care organizations
. The budget now goes before the
South Carolina House
( CNBC, 2/25 ).
South Dakota
House Approves Bill Altering Proposed Medicaid Reimbursement Cuts
: On February 23, the South
Dakota House
approved legislation (
HB 1134
) that would alter proposed
Medicaid reimbursement
reductions
. As part of
Governor
Dennis Daugaard222s
(R) budget
proposal
for the coming
fiscal year,
South Dakota
would reduce Medicaid reimbursement rates by 10 perc
ent. If
approved
, the
bill would
base th
ose cuts on the proportion of health
facilities222
revenue
coming
from Medicai
d. Under the
formula, reimbursements for providers receiving
over 80 percent of their revenue from Medicaid would
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
6
remain at current
-
year rates
. The bill now goes before the South Dakota Senate
( AP via Bloomberg, 2/22 ; South Dakota Legislature ).
Texas
Texas Public Policy Foundation Proposes
Transitioning
Medicaid
Enrollees to Private Coverage: On
February 22, the Texas Public Policy Foundation
released a report
proposing that Texas shift many of its
3.3 million Medicaid beneficiaries into private health plans. In lieu of existing Medicaid coverage, the
report recommends tha
t Texas provide subsidies
for beneficiaries
to obtain private coverage. In
addition, the authors recommend that state officials request a
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services
(CMS) waiver exempting
Texas
health plans from minimum benefit requirements ( The Dallas Morning News, 2/21 ; Kaiser Health News, 2/22 ).
Virginia
Update: Legislature Approves Budget Revisions
with
$30 Million Increase for Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disability Programming: On February 27, the
Virginia Legis
lature
approved revisions to
the state222s two
-
year $78 billion budget. Under the changes, the state would spend an additional $30
million on services and programs for individuals with behavioral health disorders and developmental
disabilities
. Allocated for the second year of the current biennium
, t
hose funds would
include $5 million
for crisis intervention services for individuals with co
-
occurring developmental disabilities and
behavioral health disorders, $4 million to expand crisis stabilization services, and $2.4 million to increase
community
-
based behavioral health services in the Tidewater/Eastern State Hospital region. The
revisions now go before Governor Bob McDonnell
(R) ( The Washington Post, 2/27 ; UPI, 2/27 ).
West Virginia
House Committee Approves Tobacco Tax
Increase
to Finance Substance Abu
se Treatment
: On
February 2
3
, the
West Virginia House Health and Human Resources Committee
approved legislation
(
HB2973)
that would raise the
state222s
current cigarette tax by $1
,
to a total of $1.55 per pack
. Slated to
raise $128 million annually, half of the revenue would
be directed to the
state222s general fund and the
other half would fund tobacco cessation programming and substance abuse treatment. The bill now
goes before the West Virginia House
Finance Committee
. On
February 22
, the committee rejected an
amendment to
another
bill
,
which
would
have
institute
d
mandatory
drug testing
for Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The amendment would have denied benefits to any
TANF
beneficiary
who
failed
two
drug test
s
and did not enter a
substance abuse treatment program
( Metro News, 2/22 ).
Wisconsin
House Approves Budget Repair Bill
Affecting
Medicaid: On February
22, the Wisconsin House
approved
legislation (
AB 11
) designed to repair the state222s
current
-
year
budget. Among other changes, the bill
would require the state to request federal authority to restructure its Medicaid program. If
the
Centers
for Medicare &
Medicaid Services
(CMS) do not approve the request, the bill would reduce 2012
Medicaid enrollment by approximately 63,000 individuals. In addition, u
nder passive review from the
Wisconsin Legislature, t
he bill would also allow the Wisconsin Department of Health Services
(DHS) to
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: State and Local Edition
March 2, 2011
3/2/2011
7
establish emergency rules for Medicaid eligibility and copayments through 2015. The bill now goes
before the Wisconsin Senate
( Appleton Post Crescent, 3/1 ; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/24 ).
