Senator Shirkey is planning to call for a vote on Senate Bills (SB) 597 and 598 next Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
The bills transfer funding from the state’s public behavioral health system and give it to private, for-profit Medicaid Health Plans. They also have the potential to eliminate Michigan’s current behavioral service delivery system for persons living with developmental disabilities, mental health challenges, and substance use disorders.
Senator Shirkey is moving forward with his controversial plan despite avid opposition from persons served, their families, and allies. Urgent advocacy is necessary to ensure legislative leaders understand the tremendous loss and disruption of services to Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens if the bills pass.
Neither SB597 nor SB598 offer solutions to current challenges that persons with private insurance experience when seeking mental health supports, nor do they improve public mental health services. The bills are simply a money move for the benefit of private Medicaid Health Plans that are accountable to shareholders, not people served.
Can private companies improve a chronically underfunded system and still earn profits?
The answer is that they can't do both. Private companies keep profits rather than reinvest savings into services. Moreover, private companies have a track record for not delivering a high standard of mild-to-moderate behavioral healthcare, let alone the incredibly complex care that the public system manages. Their poor performance (documented by the National Committee for Quality Assurance) speaks for itself.
If the public behavioral health system transfers over to private companies, Michigan citizens:
- Lose the safety net for people who have inadequate private insurance coverage
- Lose reinvestment of savings into services - shareholders reap the benefits instead
- Lose current level and quality of care
- Lose local oversight of the system and accountability to the public
Invest in Public Behavioral Health, Not an Untested Program Model & Private Earnings
Adequate funding is needed to improve services for people with disabilities, serious mental illness, or substance use disorders, not another new program model. Managed and integrated healthcare is already in place for people with the most complex needs.
The public Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHPs) reinvest savings into services. Public agencies also pick up the costs for people who have private insurance that is not sufficient to cover their treatment needs. Dozens of organizations throughout the state, including the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, are voicing their opposition to SB597 and SB598 and their support of the public system.
No fault insurance reform has resulted in a system that doesn't cover the costs of care needed by Michiganders. Don't let the same thing happen to the State’s most vulnerable citizens. Legislators are listening.
Voice your views on SB597 and SB598!
