From Mental Health Association of Michigan: For More Info, Go Here…
SECTION 298 MESS CONTINUES
Who Has the Courage to Stop it?
The state’s federally mandated Behavioral Health Advisory Council acted on June 14 to recommend termination of Michigan’s Section 298 pilot projects and renewed commitment to the 75 recommendations of the MDHHS Section 2908 Facilitation Workgroup.
The Section 298 pilots have now been delayed for the third or fourth time (new projected start of October 2020), even though it has been two years since the Legislature first mandated this effort. Little progress toward anything has happened in those two years.
This is not surprising, given the following:
*The pilot projects have to do an end-run around Michigan law on Medicaid behavioral health.
*Saginaw County CMH has dropped out of the pilot for that community.
*U-M project evaluators told advocates at a March 2019 meeting that ultimate evaluation results will not answer overall big-picture questions. The evaluators also said pilot results would be compared to the “rest of the state” but without our three biggest counties (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb) or the Upper Peninsula included – a glaring oversight.
*Each pilot requires a CMH program to reach agreement with multiple Medicaid Health Plans (MHPs), while also having to negotiate other contracts with PIHPs and the state.
*MDHHS has made several unsuccessful attempts to come up with a management plan in pilot areas for Medicaid beneficiaries not enrolled in MHPs.
*The state has had a pilot with some similarities for 3-4 years regarding persons enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare. At this time, that pilot can only be labeled a failure.
*The state hasn’t yet submitted the federal waiver request for which approval is needed if the pilots are to begin.
