The Idaho Legislature will consider a bill to restore Medicaid mental health treatment programs that the state cut to comply with the governor’s order for budget cuts.
The Legislature’s budget committee, called the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, on Monday voted to approve spending legal settlement funds to help reinstate the programs that were cut last year by Idaho Medicaid contractor Magellan.
That would include a mobile treatment program for people with severe mental illness, which is called Assertive Community Treatment. In less than four months since Magellan cut the service, four patients have died, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. In the 18 months before the cut, providers say just one patient died.
The vote would also reinstate peer support services, which help people navigate mental health treatment.
Soon after the cuts were announced, providers and the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association warned the cuts would risk public safety, and providers said the cuts would drive up other costs even more. Eastern Idaho crisis centers saw demand spike after the cuts.
Rep. Rod Furniss, R-Rigby, said sheriffs supported reinstating the services.
“Without these programs, they just don’t have any support and know what to do with people that are just acting out,” Furniss told JFAC. “… When they don’t have someone to call, they just have to take him to jail. That just increases our costs at jail, which increases our property tax.”
In a statement, Laura Scuri, a clinic owner who has pushed for the Assertive Community Treatment program’s reinstatement, called JFAC’s vote an encouraging step forward for the state.
“Funding for ACT and Peer Support reflects a clear commitment to community-based care that keeps people safe, stable, and connected to treatment,” she told the Idaho Capital Sun. “We’re grateful for the committee’s leadership and building on this momentum to ensure these services remain permanently accessible for Idahoans who rely on them.”
A spokesperson for Idaho’s court system, Nate Poppino, told the Sun that court officials were relieved with JFAC’s decisions Monday.
“Mental health courts are a critical component of our system and benefit communities across Idaho. But it is not clear if these evidence-based programs can continue without peer support services,” Poppino said. “We are extremely relieved to hear the support in the Legislature for the mental health courts and what they accomplish for our state.”
JFAC’s vote authorizes restoring programs next fiscal year, and this fiscal year
JFAC’s vote approved reinstating the programs for next fiscal year, which starts in July. The programs are also on track to be reinstated this fiscal year if the Department of Health and Welfare transfers enough funding internally.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter told the Sun that the agency has enough one-time savings to restore the services this fiscal year if JFAC’s bill becomes law.
For next fiscal year, JFAC’s vote allowed the state to spend $4.6 million in tobacco settlement funds and $5.6 million in opioid settlement funds for the programs. The federal government would pay most of the costs to reinstate the programs, paying an estimated $20.5 million out of the total $30 million in costs.
JFAC’s votes tee up a budget bill to be drafted and considered by the House and Senate.
JFAC’s vote to reinstate the programs came after JFAC rejected a motion by Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, to reinstate more mental health programs, such as partial hospitalizations and Early Serious Mental Illness. That would’ve cost the state another $1.4 million from tobacco settlements that a legislative panel had recently authorized the state to spend to restore the programs.
Why a contractor cut the Medicaid programs
State health officials have denied the entire Assertive Community Treatment program was cut, saying services are still available. But some providers say the services that are still available aren’t what the evidence-based program was like, because providers aren’t paid to staff mobile treatment teams.
The contractor, Magellan, had its pay rate reduced by the Department of Health and Welfare as part of Medicaid provider pay cuts last year, after Gov. Brad Little ordered state budget cuts. Magellan cut the services in December.
The governor’s budget chief, Lori Wolff, previously told the Sun that preventive services are often the first to go when the state faces a budget crunch — because they are one of few options the state has.
In December, the state’s Medicaid director told lawmakers that health officials aren’t sure the cuts will save the state money long-term.
About 200 people in Idaho are on the ACT program, Magellan Healthcare’s Idaho Executive Director David Welsh wrote in a December declaration in response to a federal lawsuit by patients.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.