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North Carolina proposed budget would cut BH funding by millions
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.31927
Subject(s) - medicaid , fiscal year , legislature , state (computer science) , block grant , federal budget , business , health care , mental health , federal funds , public administration , finance , political science , economics , economic growth , medicine , welfare , law , psychiatry , algorithm , computer science , monetary policy , monetary economics
The fractured relationship between North Carolina legislative leaders and the state's seven behavioral health managed care organizations (MCOs) surfaced again May 28 with the release of the state Senate budget plan, the Winston‐Salem Journal reported. The MCOs would lose $51.4 million in single‐stream funding in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years in the Senate proposal, while the House budget cuts would total $36.4 million each fiscal year. The Senate cut would be just under $25 million each year for Cardinal Innovations, the state's largest behavioral health MCO, while the House would reduce Cardinal by $9.64 million each year. Cardinal handles more than $675 million in annual federal and state Medicaid money. It said it served about 26,000 individuals with single‐stream funds in fiscal year 2017–18. “New services or projects that require on‐going, non‐Medicaid investments will not be possible. Continuing to reduce single‐stream behavioral health funds is a huge risk for our state — the need for addiction and mental health services is greater today in North Carolina than it has ever been,” said Cardinal CEO Trey Sutten.