Guest Column

Legislature Struggles to Clean Up Mental Health Mess

Richard McGee

Richard McGee is retired, and resides in Las Cruces.

In June 2013 the Martinez administration, asserting that an audit had revealed 15 nonprofit groups providing mental health treatment for the poor had over-billed Medicaid by as much as $36 million, cancelled contracts with these groups.  Several companies from Arizona came in to replace them.

But reporting from the Santa Fe New Mexican revealed that months before the audits were complete the Martinez administration was already paying at least one of the Arizona companies for salaries, travel, and legal fees.  One payment to Agave Health, Inc., an Arizona firm, was made before the audit had even begun.  The affected companies were not given a chance to reply before their contracts were withdrawn.  Since then four Arizona non-profits contracted to fill the positions of the New Mexico firms left the state, leaving many folks high and dry, without access to mental health care.  The state's providers were subsequently cleared of charges of wrongdoing, except for one extremely small case of an overpayment.

The movida by the Martinez administration was highly inappropriate, partly because it was so lacking in tranparency, partly because it was unfair for the accused organizations not to be able to respond to the accusations before losing their contracts; and partly because negotiations with the firms receiving new contracts were made prior to the accusations.

Several bills were introduced by Sen. Mary Kay Papen to try to restore some semblance of order to the mess left in the wake of this longstanding scandal.

One of them, endorsed by the New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight Committee, makes certain behavioral health care clinic eligible for capital funding

It provides for the “repair, renovation or construction of a behavioral health facility; purchase of land; or acquisition of capital equipment of a long-term nature; a nonprofit behavioral health facility that  is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation for federal income tax purposes and serves primarily sick and indigent patients; or (2) a behavioral health care clinic that operates in a rural or other health care underserved area of the state, that is owned by a county or municipality and that meets department requirements for eligibility.”

The bill has passed the Senate and has received a "do pass" recommendations from two House committees, including the House Appropriations committee.  A lot more needs to be done to make mental health care work will in New Mexico.  This moves the ball forward.