During Legislative Hearing, Tennessee Officials Express Concern about State of Mental Health System
Tennessee officials testifying before the joint Legislative TennCare Oversight Committee on Oct. 15 expressed concern that the state is cutting funding for mental health services for adults in an attempt to balance its "under-funded" budget, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Officials said they have redirected $14 million in funds originally allocated for adult outpatient mental health care services to "meet budget mandates," the Commercial Appeal reports. The redirection of funds means that adults with severe mental illnesses will be limited to four instead of 10 counseling visits to state mental health centers each month. Because of the funding redirection, the state also is reducing case management and transportation for severely mentally ill adults who do not live in state institutions.
More Worries
Officials testifying during the hearing said that the condition of Tennessee's mental health system "will only worsen" because of financial problems at the state's main behavioral health organization and because of an eligibility reverification process for beneficiaries in TennCare, the state's Medicaid managed care program, the Commercial Appeal reports. Magellan, which owns or controls two behavioral health plans under TennCare, is nearly bankrupt, and the state has been looking for another company to manage mental health benefits under TennCare. The company's financial problems have delayed the creation of a psychiatric care team in Memphis, the Commercial Appeal reports. Officials also are concerned about how the TennCare eligibility reverification process will affect about 80,000 beneficiaries with severe mental illnesses. Thus far 21,000 of those beneficiaries have responded to the reverification notices; those who do not respond will be dropped from TennCare within 90 days of the notice. Any person who is "seriously and persistently mentally ill" can re-enroll in TennCare should they be dropped improperly, TennCare Director Manny Martins said. He added, "Yes, I'm concerned that people who qualify for the program are going to be dis-enrolled, but I think we've done everything humanly possible to reach out to them" (Wade, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 10/16).
