Four months ago, Houston's six stand-alone psychiatric hospitals were forced to cut back by 85 beds because Medicaid would no longer reimburse them for treating many of their mentally ill patients.
Now the hospitals are scrambling to rehire staff and reopen bed space because Medicaid has reinstated the payments.
"We do have a vacant unit," said Lois Moore, administrator of the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center. "Now all we need to do is staff it."
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reversed its policy in response to a special waiver request by the state Health and Human Services Commission. In a May 1 letter, CMS notified state officials that Medicaid-reimbursed HMOs would be allowed to cover people treated in psychiatric hospitals.
In Harris and 27 other Texas counties, Medicaid patients receive their health coverage through a managed-care program called STAR+PLUS.
Dr. George Santos, medical director of West Oaks Hospital in Houston, said Friday that elected officials and mental health advocates from the area had joined forces to push for the agency's reversal.
Now he said the hospitals must rebuild their staffs of nurses and technicians, which won't be easy.
"What hasn't changed is the ongoing crisis in nursing shortages in this community, in the state," said Santos. "Although the regulatory stuff has been reversed, all the hospitals are struggling to locate and hire enough staff to reopen their units."
Betsy Schwartz, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston, said she is thrilled that the federal agency reversed its policy but is concerned that resources to help the mentally ill are still too limited.
"We have to keep our eye on the larger issue," she said, "which is that thousands of adults and children with major illnesses are not able to access the treatment they need and deserve."
Source : www.chron.com
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