Medicaid for mental health to rise

State seeks to improve access by increasing spending $78.5M

New Mexico is seeking to bolster access to a variety of health care services, including mental health treatment, in rural areas with a $78.5 million proposed increase in annual Medicaid spending, the Human Services Department announced Tuesday.

The agency already increased federally subsidized Medicaid payments earlier this year by roughly $230 million to hospitals, physicians and other providers.

Slated to start Oct. 1, the newly proposed rate increases rely heavily on federal matching funds, leveraging a state general fund appropriation of $16 million to inject $78.5 million into the health care sector. The proposal is open to public comment through the agency’s website.

More than 800,000 residents are enrolled in the state’s federally subsidized Medicaid program, which was expanded substantially in 2014 to include more individuals living just above the federal definition of poverty.

The proposed increase in payments to medical professionals is directed primarily toward behavior health services, as the state reconstructs its networks for treating mental ailments and addiction.

Former Gov. Susana Martinez in 2013 froze payments to 15 nonprofit mental health service providers over concerns about fraud — driving many out of business. Prosecutors found only regulatory violations.

The new Medicaid rates for behavioral health care apply to most outpatient services that don’t require a hospital stay and represent an average payment increase of 30 percent.

In a news release, Human Services Secretary David Scrase described those increases as “substantial and designed to form the foundation for significant rebuilding of our New Mexico network.”

Randy Marshall, executive director of the New Mexico Medical Society, said many Medicaid reimbursement rates were slashed in 2016 as the state grappled with a budget shortfall and approved financial austerity measures.

State government income is now surging amid record-breaking oil and natural gas production in southeastern New Mexico.

The state Medicaid rate increases are likely to have an outsized effect on rural clinics and practices where Medicaid coverage can account for a 90 percent share of patients, Marshall said.

The state also is seeking to shore up Medicaid funding for dental care, increasing the minimum payment for each encounter with a patient to $200.

More annual Medicaid spending — an estimated $900,000 — also would be dedicated to a program called Project ECHO that allows medical providers in remote areas to consult by video conference with far-away medical specialists.

The state Medicaid rate increases are likely to have an outsized effect on rural clinics and practices, said Randy Marshall, executive director of the N.M. Medical Society.