State budget funds some mental health crisis response and hospital diversion efforts
Charlotte ObserverNov 25, 2021
Throughout the pandemic, more people have sought mental health crisis services or have gone to hospital emergency rooms in distress. Hospitals leaders say the COVID-19 pandemic has created a behavioral health emergency.
Pandemic-related stressors caused more demand for mental health services and an increase in substance use and overdoses, advocates and the data say.
The state budget that Gov.
The budget includes a
The budget also includes a provision that will require LME-MCOs, the state’s behavioral health management companies, to reimburse hospitals for services provided to Medicaid patients in the emergency department for behavioral health services after 30 hours. Karim said the
Before this change, the hospitals were not being reimbursed for more than 30 hours of services provided to behavioral health patients during these long waits.
“It’s a larger system change to make sure that when the emergency department is being utilized for these patients, who need these services for their behavioral health diagnosis, that the LME- MCOs will develop an adequate and accessible network of providers,” Karim said.
As wait times for psychiatric beds have increased during the pandemic, the budget includes funds from the sale of the Dorothea Dix hospital property fund to open more inpatient beds to treat people with mental illness.
Psychiatric hospitalization alternatives
Additionally, the budget gives a one-time amount of
“Now we can consider what our community truly needs to reduce overuse of high-cost crisis services while improving outcomes,” said
“Hospitalization is not the best option for many, and indeed the rate of suicidality is actually highest shortly after discharge from psychiatric hospitalization according to recent research. We need an array of options in our community.”
Coker is hopeful that peer-run organizations such as hers can be part of the solution in
“Expanding our array of crisis response components will increase access to alternatives that might be more welcoming and appropriate to individuals earlier in their distress,” she said. “Further, these models would also greatly reduce the costly and troubling overuse in our county of involuntary commitment orders which are often sought in desperation because we do not have responsive upstream crisis components.”
Missing from the budget were funds to expand mental health peer support centers, similar to Green Tree, which are operated by people who have experienced mental illness, homelessness, incarceration, substance use or some combination of these.
The budget does include about
Additionally, there’s a
Recovery courts and 1,000 Innovations Waiver slots
It’s not uncommon for people with a substance use disorder or other mental health issues to find themselves in front of a judge. The budget includes about
These are special court programs, aimed at being more therapeutic and less punitive, for people who have committed a crime and are struggling with mental health or substance use issues.
For those with disabilities, there will be 1,000 new slots — which is higher than in recent budget cycles — for people with disabilities to receive enhanced community services under the state’s Innovations Waiver, which has a current 10-year waiting list of about 15,000 people. Budget writers also included a modest increase in funds —
“Disability Rights NC is pleased with budget provisions that will improve the lives of people with disabilities in NC. The budget fills three gap areas by extending Medicaid eligibility to parents of children in the foster system; women for one year after giving birth; and people with age-related or other disabilities who receive Special Assistance and opt to stay in their homes,” DRNC Policy Attorney
“Thanks to this budget, thousands of people who otherwise would have been forced to enter institutions like
Some smaller allocations for nonprofits that serve people with disabilities include
About
Budget writers gave several small allocations to organizations that provide services, support and treatment to people with addiction issues, including the following:
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