[NYAPRS Enews] PS: Peer Crisis Diversion Touted as Model for NYS Medicaid Redesign

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NYAPRS Note: February 3rd's Queensbury public forum held by members of
NY's Medicaid Redesign Team heard powerful testimony from the executive
director of the nearby peer run program Voices of the Heart. Longtime
advocate Dan Hazen provided timely details about the advantages and
great cost effectiveness of VOH's peer run crisis respite program, an
holistic approach that is routinely valued and funded by modern recovery
systems overseen by behavioral health organizations (BHOs)....but never
by health plans (HMOs). 

Tomorrow Albany will be filled with the voices of the people most
affected, New Yorkers with mental health and substance use conditions
who'll be urging state officials and the media to back BHO led regional
care coordination models and to oppose turning over their care to the
HMOs. 

 

Voices of the Heart Program Seen as Example of Alternative to Costly
Hospitalization

By Maury Thompson Thompson   Glens Falls Post-Star  February 12, 2011

 

A locally-based program that provides short-term housing to individuals
experiencing mental health crisis, as an alternative to hospitalization,
could be a model as the state looks to redesign the Medicaid program,
said Daniel Hazen, executive director of Voices of the Heart.

The nonprofit organization, among other services, operates a "peer
respite program" in Hudson Falls, essentially a 2-bedroom apartment,
that provides services to residents of Warren and Washington counties.

Someone in crisis can call 798-1100 to talk with a staff member, and if
necessary the staff member will arrange for the individual to come to
the respite house.

The respite program provides services for about $250 per person per day,
compared with $1,200 to $1,400 if the same person went to a hospital,
Hazen told Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team at a public
hearing at Adirondack Community College last week.

The hospital estimate includes the cost of ambulance transportation, an
emergency room visit and an overnight stay, Hazen said later.

A heavy reliance on hospital care for the mentally ill is among the
reasons Medicaid costs in New York are so high, said Harvey Rosenthal,
executive director of New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Services, an advocacy organization.

The Medicaid program now spends about $1,400 per member per month for
chronic medical and mental health conditions, according to the state
Department of Health.

Mental health is one of the higher cost areas that certainly will need
to change the way services are provided, said Medicaid Director Jason
Halgerson.

Hazen said the local respite program costs less and is more personalized
than receiving care in a hospital.

"We're offering people care at lower cost but really connecting with the
person in a different way -- a holistic way, every part of their life,"
he said.

People typically stay anywhere from three to 15 days at the local
respite house, which is funded with a $283,000 annual state grant and
about $17,000 in local charitable contributions.

It is one of only two such programs in the state and only nine in the
nation, he said.

Hazen said the reason there are not more of these type programs is
because the funding is limited.

If the state directed more money to programs like his, it would save the
state money, overall, he said.

David Kruczlnicki, president and chief executive officer of Glens Falls
Hospital, said he was not familiar specifically with the local peer
respite program, but said reducing the frequency of hospital emergency
room visits is one of the goals of redesigning Medicaid.

Another goal, Rosenthal said, is to enroll more mentally ill recipients
in Medicaid managed care plans.

Rosenthal urged the panel to enroll recipients in specialized managed
care plans, called "behavior health management organization," rather
than traditional HMOs.

"And so we accept that it has to be managed now. But we think we should
be managed under the supervision of the agencies that know us best," he
said.

Kruczlnicki said the Medicaid program could save money and increase
efficiency by consolidating state agencies.

"Specifically in the area of mental health and behavioral health
services there is a number of redundant bureaucratic layers," he said.
"We believe it makes sense to consolidate the Office of Mental Health,
the Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, and Office of
Persons with Developmental Disabilities into the Health Department in
the interest of efficiency and reduced redundancies."

 

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_8d34ad18-361a-11e0-9cf0-001cc4c03
286.html 

 

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