OCCMHA to Address $11 Million Budget Deficit

More than 18 months after Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority (OCCMHA) received an unexpected 10 percent budget reduction, the organization is presenting its service providers with new contract attachments to prepare for the $11million budget deficit it anticipates for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-2016. Its new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2015.

OCCMHA is responsible for managing the county’s public mental health system that provides services to more than 27,000 people who have a developmental disability, mental illness, substance use disorder, or children with serious emotional disturbance.

“Because the budget reductions that we received in October of 2013 were unexpected, the situation required immediate action to ensure that there was as little impact on people’s lives as possible,” explains OCCMHA Executive Director and CEO, Willie Brooks. “We committed all of our savings to sustain operations until we could devise a long term plan. Painful layoffs occurred and several services, mostly those supported by the General Fund, are currently not being offered.”

The combination of a $14 million reduction in Medicaid dollars, an $8 million decrease in General Fund, and a $7 million increase in service demand, left OCCMHA with a $29 million budget deficit.

Since 2010, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has been reallocating Medicaid funding toward a more uniformed state average. This practice is more commonly referred to as rebasing. The shift to a consistent Medicaid revenue rate average across the state’s 10 Pre-Paid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHP), moving Medicaid funds from one PIHP to another, resulted in the loss of Medicaid dollars to OCCMHA.

“We do not want families to be confused in thinking that we are dealing with new budget reductions from the State at this time. The $11 million deficit being addressed by the proposed contracts is the result of the 2013 loss in funding, which was supplemented with savings that no longer exist,” adds Brooks. “We traditionally begin budget evaluations in late summer, but are starting in April this year so that we can collaborate with our provider network to identify solutions that will protect services for people.”

Shortly after receiving the funding reduction in October 2013, OCCMHA turned to MDCH for guidance in matching the expectation of service delivery to people with available funding. The conversations evolved into meaningful discussions about appropriate funding for the entire state, operational efficiencies, and anticipated outcomes for the lives of Michigan and Oakland County’s most vulnerable citizens.

Areas of concern identified by MDCH for Oakland County include rate variances for service providers, excessive layers of administration, administrative duplications, and higher service costs.

Core service provider agencies that belong to OCCMHA’s network include: Common Ground, Community Living Services/OC, Community Network Services, Easter Seal Michigan, Macomb Oakland Regional Center, Oakland Family Services, and Training and Treatment Innovations. Each of these organizations is delegated by OCCMHA with a specific service delivery for individuals based on need. They fulfill this commitment, in part, through contracts with more than 300 direct service providers who are on the frontline of helping people.

As stated in the contracts that OCCMHA currently holds with each of its core service providers, the organization must retain $500,000 in savings per provider agency for risk management purposes. More information about OCCMHA’s budget is available at www.occmha.org.

About OCCMHA

Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority is the public mental health system responsible for identifying, influencing, and delivering services and supports to approximately 27,000 Oakland County residents, including adults and children with developmental disabilities or substance use disorders; adults with serious mental illness; and children with serious emotional disturbance.

OCCMHA’s current network of service providers include: Common Ground, Community Living Services, Community Network Services, Easter Seals Michigan, Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, Oakland Family Services, Inc., and Training and Treatment Innovations. A complete list of substance use service providers is available on OCCMHA’s website. For more information about OCCMHA call (800) 341-2003 or visit www.occmha.org.