KMHC
TOPEKA–More than 300 mental health advocates from across Kansas will arrive in Topeka today, Wed., March 15, to urge state lawmakers to build a stronger mental health system.
“The state’s mental health system continues to be overextended and underfunded. As a result, people with mental illness are not getting the treatment and support they need to recover, or even to weather periods of acute crisis” says Susan Crain Lewis, president of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, organizer of the event.
“Demand for services continues to increase, and our community mental health centers are asked to serve more people with fewer resources. This poses a huge challenge given their statutory obligation to serve everyone regardless of ability to pay. Despite herculean efforts, many people who could be helped before they reach crisis cannot be seen in a timely fashion, and therefore end up in hospital emergency room hallways, jails, or worse.”
“The pressure on all parts of the system, community mental health centers, providers, hospitals, safety net medical clinics, law enforcement officers, emergency responders, advocacy and social service organizations, friends and family, and most importantly, the persons with mental illness themselves is extraordinary, unnecessary and unfair. Mental illness is highly treatable, and the only category of illness in which we deprive people of access to needed treatment until they reach ‘stage 4’- crisis. This is costly and inhumane, and unacceptable in our state.”
Advocates will gather for a rally at 10:30 a.m. on the south apron of the Capitol. Legislative District Advocates will meet with Legislators during a lunch at noon inside the Capitol. Those scheduled to speak at the rally include Secretary Tim Keck, who heads the Department for Aging and Disability Services, Representative Louis Ruiz, Co-Chair of the Mental Health Caucus, and Representative Joy Koesten, a newly elected advocate for persons with mental illness and Co-Chair of the Caucus.
Throughout the day advocates will also meet with their legislators, drawing attention to these priority issues:
Outpatient Mental Health Services: The coalition supports Mental Health 2020 and urges the Legislature to restore mental health reform grant funding for the state’s 26 Community Mental Health Centers so they can provide the important array of services required to serve Kansans with mental illness, including the specialized services important to children and families. Legislation to improve workforce training and increase the number of clinical professionals should be supported. The Legislature must restore the four percent cuts to Medicaid reimbursement and improve the overall KanCare program to improve timely eligibility approval, incentivize important community based treatment through new reimbursement codes, and reduce burdensome administrative requirements.
Inpatient Psychiatric Services – State Hospitals Crisis: The Coalition recommends the Kansas Legislature fully fund high-quality psychiatric inpatient services to meet the needs of all Kansans who require this care. The current moratorium on admissions at Osawatomie State Hospital is placing people and communities at risk. Specifically, the Legislature should: 1) Restore the 206 beds at Osawatomie State Hospital and end the moratorium on admissions, 2) Pursue re-certification as soon as possible, 3) Provide ongoing funding and support to replicate throughout the state the crisis stabilization services established recently at the former Rainbow Mental Health Facility serving Wyandotte and Johnson Counties and fund them into the future, 4) Empower the Kansas Department on Aging and Disability Services to produce a long-term plan to implement the recommendations of the Adult Continuum of Care Committee, and 5) Provide for continued public/ private partnerships for local psychiatric inpatient beds to alleviate the growing demand for state psychiatric hospital beds. The Coalition does not currently support the RFP to privatize Osawatomie State Hospital because of the lack of information regarding the current proposal.
Medicaid Medication and “Step Therapy”: The Kansas Legislature should protect patient access to mental health medications in the Medicaid program by requiring transparent, effective and research-informed prior authorization policy development by the Mental Health Medication Advisory Committee and careful oversight by the Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment over the implementation by managed care organizations. There should be no step therapy for mental health medications.
Expand Medicaid: The Coalition supports the expansion of KanCare, a move that would make the state’s Medicaid plan eligible to adults with an income at or below 138% of federal poverty guidelines. The federal government will pay between 90% and 95% of the costs. Kansans have difficulty accessing important behavioral health programs in many areas of the state. Expanding Medicaid is one of the best options available to close some of the gaps in our behavioral health continuum of care. Inpatient beds, transition programs, and community based crisis centers struggle to sustain services for a largely uninsured population. These programs also face a workforce shortage. The Bridge to a Healthy Kansas plan expands the number of Kansans with access to quality healthcare, and gives our state a greater share of federal funding to support the programs that provide the care.
Children and Families: The Kansas Legislature should support in its budget services for ALL children who need health, mental health, and substance use treatment. Whether it is inpatient or outpatient, Medicaid or private pay, parents must be able to access the services they need at times and locations that work for families. This is imperative in order to keep children at home and in school, which reduces the need for expensive out-of-home placements – but most importantly, keeps families together while improving the opportunity for growing up healthy. When the adults in the family are able to access housing and employment as well as health care and substance use treatment needs, children are less likely to need long term interventions.
Mental Health and Criminal Justice: The Kansas Legislature must adopt public policy that focuses on: (1) Mental health diversion programs that connect youth and adults with serious mental illness with treatment resources that keep them out of the criminal justice system, including a long-term commitment to Juvenile Justice System Reform passed in 2016; (2) Therapeutic care for offenders who are living with mental illness; and (3) Effective discharge planning to ensure that individuals with serious mental illnesses receive community-based services upon their release.
Sue Lewis is president of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition and may be reached at (913) 244-7585 or [email protected].
The Kansas Mental Health Coalition (KMHC) is a collaborative organization of numerous non-profit organizations, agencies and individuals representing individuals with mental illness or lived experience, families, and providers dedicated to improving the lives of Kansans with mental illness.