Louisiana Sued Over Allegations Medicaid Program Failed To Provide Children With Mental Health Services
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, argues that the state has violated federal laws by failing to offer children intensive mental health services, instead relying on psychiatric institutions and the juvenile justice system to stabilize children in crisis. Medicaid news comes out of Minnesota and Tennessee, as well.
Modern Healthcare:
Louisiana Sued For Not Providing Medicaid-Eligible Kids Mental Healthcare
Five families sued the Louisiana Department of Health on Thursday for allegedly failing to provide their Medicaid-enrolled children with necessary mental health services. The lawsuit in Louisiana federal court alleges the state health department and its secretary, Dr. Rebekah Gee, didn't provide an accessible statewide mental health system of intensive home- and community-based services. (Livingston, 11/8)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Mentally Ill Children In Louisiana Do Not Receive Adequate Services Through Medicaid, Lawsuit Says
In Louisiana, children on Medicaid have few options when they experience a mental health crisis, according to the lawsuit. Children should have access to professionals trained in crisis prevention to de-escalate a situation and prevent parents from seeking law enforcement as a last resort. In many rural areas, there are no such centers or programs, or they have long waiting lists. "The ... option they have is to call 911, which can result in getting juvenile justice involved," said Victor Jones, senior supervising attorney for the SPLC. "The other option is to have the child institutionalized." (Woodruff, 11/9)
The Star Tribune:
Costly Medicaid Missteps Could Foretell Bigger Problems At DHS
A top official at the Minnesota Department of Human Services has told Legislative Auditor James Nobles that recent overpayments to two Indian bands represented just “one example” of wider dysfunction in the agency’s oversight of millions of dollars in state and federal money...The revelation could foretell additional improper payments that have not yet come to light at the troubled department, which serves more than 1 million Minnesotans and oversees a budget exceeding $12 billion. But it also paints a picture of an agency where competing factions failed to cooperate or respect internal lines of authority — a struggle that may help explain a series of fiscal missteps revealed since this summer. (Howatt and Serres, 11/10)
Nashville Tennessean:
TennCare Hacked: Magellan Data Breach Leaves Nearly 44,000 People At Risk
The private information of nearly 44,000 TennCare members may have been stolen by a hacker who breached the email system of the agency’s pharmacy management vendor, officials announced on Friday. The private information that was potentially compromised includes names, social security numbers, member IDs, health plans, provider names and the names of drugs members have been prescribed. (Kelman, 11/8)
