MSHN Board Statement on System Redesign

Mid-State Health Network (MSHN) is a Pre-Paid Inpatient Health Plan (PIHP) created as a regional entity by 12 Community Mental Health Services Programs (CMHSPs) under the Mental Health Code (MHC). We address you today as officers of the Mid-State Health Network Board of Directors and on its behalf.

Recent proposals in the House and Senate fundamentally change the public behavioral health system. The Mid-State Health Network Board of Directors opposes these proposals because:

• Beneficiaries and their families, and the communities that support them, are opposed as was well documented in prior redesign efforts and would stand to lose access to services, supports and input into the design and operation of their services and supports system. Many Michiganders are left out of the redesign proposals completely.
• Public oversight, governance, operations, and accountability would be ended.
• Current proposals for redesign are not based on performance metrics related to positive outcomes, effectiveness, and efficiency measures associated with the current public system and there is no clear statement about the problem or problems that the Senate or House are attempting to address or solve.
• These proposals incentivize and prioritize profits to private companies at the expense of the public and the beneficiaries served by the public behavioral health system.
• These proposals, if enacted, would inappropriately overlay a medical model where a social supports and service model is necessary to effectively support beneficiaries.
• These proposals seek financial integration and ignore integration where it is most meaningful and beneficial to recipients, which is at the point of service.

Instead of damaging the public behavioral health system through pursuit of these proposals, recent innovations by the public behavioral health system should be supported. The Mid-State Health Network Board of Directors supports, and asks our Legislative and Executive Branch leaders to support:

• Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).
• Behavioral Health Homes.
• Opioid Health Homes.
• State Innovation Models.
• Local primary and behavioral health integration infrastructure and care coordination at the point of service delivery.

These innovations themselves address most access challenges and gaps of most concern to citizens and PIHPs and should be fostered, nurtured and supported by State government. The remainder of this document provides additional details associated with our positions. Please take the time to thoroughly review our viewpoint, and please contact Mid-State Health Network’s Chief Executive Officer to arrange for discussions on these fundamentally important matters.

Sincerely,

FOR THE MID-STATE HEALTH NETWORK BOARD OF DIRECTORS BY
Ed Woods, Chairperson

Irene O’Boyle, Vice Chairperson

Jim Anderson, Acting Secretary

Kurt Peasley, Ex Officio

Joseph P. Sedlock, Chief Executive Officer

Amanda Ittner, Deputy Director