LOUISIANA Community Mental Health Services Block Grant ...

SECTION I – DESCRIPTION OF STATE SERVICE SYSTEM
NEW DEVELOPMENTS & ISSUES
LOUISIANA FY 2011 - ADULT & CHILD/ YOUTH PLAN
NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND ISSUES THAT WILL AFFECT MENTAL HEALTH DELIVERY
IN FY 10-11
The legislated merger of the Office of Mental Health with the Office for Addictive Disorders to
become the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) has been a major focus over the last year, and will
continue to be a priority as the new organizational structure is further developed. The merger was
mandated in the 2009 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature to occur on the first day of the
state fiscal year, July 1, 2010. These changes are further described in the Overview of the Mental
Health System in Section I. Although not without controversy, the move to OBH is anticipated to
result in more seamless and coordinated care, while eliminating redundancies at the administrative
level.
Emergency preparedness, response and recovery have become a part of every healthcare provider‟s
job description, and employees have learned that every disaster is different, be it a hurricane or an
oil spill, always requiring new learning and flexibility. All employees of OBH are now on standby
alert status should a hurricane threaten the state, and all employees are expected to be active during
a crisis. Louisiana families are encouraged to “Get a game plan” (http://getagameplan.org/) in
order to be prepared for a hurricane, or other disaster, should one strike.
Funding to healthcare in the state budget was significantly reduced in the just ended legislative
session. Since education and healthcare budgets are areas that are not constitutionally protected in
the Louisiana State Constitution, they are often the areas that are hardest hit when revenue is down.
In a state that is known for high levels of poverty, high rates of chronic illness, and a high
percentage of school drop-out rates, these cuts are significant.
The Louisiana Medicaid Behavioral Health Section was launched within Medicaid's Medical
Vendor Administrative section on July 1st 2009, and is responsible for the oversight, management
and administration of all Medicaid-funded behavioral health services. This new section works
collaboratively with other health care service agencies within the state to improve access to
medically necessary behavioral health services. Under this new section, Louisiana is seeing a
continued migration toward managed behavioral health care and greater utilization tracking, review
and utilization management of all services. This new section, although not within the Office of
Behavioral Health, works towards achieving goals previously established by the state's mental
health authority. Such goals include increasing access to services, decreasing fragmentation of
services, increasing evidence based services, increasing quality standards, and decreasing reliance
on utilization of jails, emergency rooms, and inpatient psychiatric hospitals, while increasing access
to more community-based mental health services. It is also expected that this section will work
toward integrating substance abuse services into the system of care.
Multi-systemic Therapy (MST) was approved under state plan and allowed reimbursement
beginning July 1, 2008. MST is a state plan service in Louisiana under the rehab option and is an
open access service provided exclusively to Medicaid eligible youth. The primary goals of MST
PART C LOUISIANA FY 2011 PAGE 57
SECTION I: ADULT & CHILD/ YOUTH –DESCRIPTION OF STATE SERVICE SYSTEM
NEW DEVELOPMENTS & ISSUES