As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, the covered services will be changing for adults with serious mental illness who do not qualify for Medicaid in response to recent budget reductions. We’ve established a dedicated project team to research strategies to responsibly implement the benefit reductions. The project team, composed of peers, family members and agency representatives, is looking at a variety of options, including a medication only benefit, which would include a generic formulary paired with necessary blood work and appointments with prescribing clinicians. We are also looking at potential options for making some name-brand medications available as well.
Over the next three weeks, our behavioral health team will discuss these options and others with community members in order to arrive at a benefit package that is responsive to the needs of individuals while taking the limited funding into consideration. Our information hub on our homepage is being updated weekly with a variety of critical information regarding this transition, including updated policy changes, questions and answers, an updated community meeting schedule, and a place to Submit questions, comments or concerns and sign up to receive information and updates!.
