Tuesday, October 29, 2002

One Stressed-Out Industry
Washington Post feature story - "...far from being flush with profits and promise, the $4.5 billion managed behavioral health care industry is in flux. Some companies, including the largest, are having financial problems. Others say they are making money. Some psychiatrists and psychologists, frustrated by low fees and bureaucratic hassles, are leaving managed-care networks all together. Other providers, meanwhile, are joining them."  
  

More say mental care was denied (Massachusetts)
Boston Globe story - "Complaints by Massachusetts consumers who say they were denied mental-health treatment have more than tripled this year, with most of the appeals filed against Magellan Health Services, a Maryland company that oversees mental health care for 1.1 million residents."  
  

State agency 'questionable' billing practice criticized (New Hampshire) Story in the Manchester Union Leader on a new state report indicating that "the state mental health division and its affiliated community agencies for eight years have employed a “questionable” billing arrangement involving millions of dollars in federal Medicaid funds." Issues have arisen because the state mental health division encouraged community mental health agencies to provide services in community settings rather than their offices, resulting in the "accumulation of 'holdback accounts' containing Medicaid money not included in the state’s budget and kept by the 10 community agencies."