Behavioral health care system to be studied

Federal agency to examine accessibility for NM services

SANTA FE — A federal agency, at the urging of Democratic members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation, will undertake a review of how accessible the state’s behavioral health care system is for individuals with mental illness and addiction.

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Inspector General will begin its work this fall and will conduct a similar review in four other states, its director wrote in a June 28 letter.

New Mexico’s behavioral health system has been the subject of scrutiny and fierce debate in recent years, after Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration abruptly cut off Medicaid funding to 15 nonprofit providers in June 2013, alleging an outside audit showed overbilling and possible fraud.

Many of the New Mexico providers were driven out of the behavioral health business after the funding freeze — though Attorney General Hector Balderas’ office eventually

cleared all 15 of fraud — and legislators and others have complained about an ensuing disruption in services to vulnerable mentally ill and addicted people.

Though the state has collected $4.4 million from some providers, the state has scaled back its demands for repayment of alleged overbilling, with one now-closed southern New Mexico provider recently settling with the state for $484 — after originally being asked to pay back $2.8 million.

However, the state Human Services Department has defended its actions and said the number of New Mexicans receiving behavioral health treatment has increased in recent years, due to the state’s expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act and the revamping of Medicaid under the state’s Centennial Care program.

More than 153,000 state residents received behavioral health services in 2015, according to the state agency.

“The reality is, under this administration’s leadership more New Mexicans are receiving behavioral health services than ever before,” HSD spokesman Joseph Cueto said Friday.

He did not directly weigh in on the coming review but said the Martinez administration would continue to “safeguard taxpayer dollars” in its oversight of the state behavioral health system.

Meanwhile, the federal review will focus on the types of behavioral health services offered, whether new patients can readily get appointments and how long waiting lists are to receive treatment, among other things.

A spokesman for the U.S. Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General could not immediately provide information Friday about the other four states being reviewed.

Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation called in 2016 for a federal investigation into the shake-up and requested the review into New Mexico’s current system.

The four lawmakers on Friday lauded the apparent fulfillment of the latter request.

“This was a manufactured crisis that has had tragic consequences for children and families struggling with mental illness, behavioral health issues and substance abuse, who lost access to care altogether or haven’t been able to find steady care,” U.S. Sen. Tom Udall said.

The fifth member of the state’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, the only Republican in the delegation, did not sign on to the initial letter seeking a federal review.