Funding restored, but providers say damage has been done
The Daily Inter LakeAug 09, 2018
The latest twists in public funding for mental health care in
In the latest response to the cuts, Gov.
State mental health funding has long been a roller coaster for providers, with ups and downs depending on the state's financial stability. According to a report by the
Since the cuts went into effect earlier this year, mental health providers have adapted with layoffs, closures and overworking personnel. Many families and providers were particularly outraged by the cuts to case management services, which nearly halved the funding for those who work consistently with clients -- helping them find jobs, pay rent, or make appointments -- to prevent mental health crises.
The path to stabilize the situation is growing clearer, but many worry that the damage far exceeds a quick fix.
"They dismantled a system that took decades to build -- you can't rebuild those overnight," said
Earlier this year,
Bullock's announced
"Certainly getting the 2.99 percent cut back will help. It doesn't sound like much but it is something," said Smith.
But the reinstatement "doesn't undo the damage that's been done."
The disruption has long-term effects on clients, she said, not to mention the challenge of rehiring staff. "It's hard to get people to come back," she said, referencing lost case workers. "Would you come back to work for a service that the government could cut on a whim?"
"We will get reinstated the 2.99 percent for Medicaid, which will be helpful," said
That specific rate cut has left too few staff to work with Montanans living with a mental illness or disability.
"We've had to turn a lot of people away who've been referred by the hospital," said Winegardner. "And it's not just us that's happening to."
Concerns over the swiftness of the case management cuts, among others, have also prompted judicial action. Last Tuesday, several disability rights advocates sued the
"This lawsuit is the direct result of unlawful and unconstitutional decisions by the state that threaten significant and long-lasting harm to Montanans and their families," said
The suit alleges that the Legislature did not accurately publish the potential rate cuts before enacting them in late 2017, leaving many health providers shocked and stranded.
"We do not believe based upon our clients that the developmental disability rates were available at the time the proposed rule was published in
"The whole point of the process is to know what happened."
The legal action seeks to go further than Bullock's planned restoration by retroactively compensating for lost funding in 2018. "[The state is] going to reinstate the rates from
The state health department, meanwhile, is currently accepting public comment on how and where to restore funding, while the Legislature's
In
"Work with providers with good models," she urged. "If it's created in a vacuum, it's probably not going to be that great. You can't build it quickly."
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