Mental health care providers will receive $9.3M in extra MaineCare payments
Courtesy / Maine Department of Health and Human Services
Extra MaineCare payments will go to to mental health care providers to support immediate workforce needs. Seen here is a 2019 map of MaineCare recipients per provider agency.
Stretched to capacity by the demands of the pandemic, Maine's mental health care providers will begin receiving a new round of state funds next week to support workforce development.
Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday said the state will distribute $9.3 million in monthly MaineCare payments to 442 mental health and substance use disorder service providers to support immediate workforce needs.
The money comes as the Maine Department of Health and Human Services advances a long-term plan aimed at ensuring Maine people have access to behavioral health care in their communities.
DHHS is prioritizing the payments to bolster community-based services for mental health and substance use disorders that have been strained by the pandemic and its effects.
The $9.3 million in supplemental payments, which come from the state's current biennial, is designed to strengthen behavioral health services for adults and children by helping providers pay their direct service workers at least 125% of Maine’s minimum wage.
Payments will continue monthly through the end of the calendar year and amounts are based on each provider’s prior 12 months of claims for eligible services.
“While we started tackling the gaps in Maine’s behavioral health system before COVID-19, the stress of the global pandemic has taken its toll on Maine residents, their families and caregivers, and our system as a whole,” DHHS Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said in a news release.
The short-term payments aim to bolster the support system during the public health emergency, she said.
The payments are in addition to the $116 million in bonus payments the department has now paid for more than 20,000 direct support workers providing a broad range of personal care, home health, and behavioral health, shared living, and community and work supports.
The bonus payments are supported by the American Rescue Plan and represent a major component of the department’s plan to improve access to high-quality services aiming to help Maine people of all ages, including those living with disabilities and behavioral health challenges, can remain in their communities.
Crisis center opens
The Mills administration also announced the opening of Maine’s first comprehensive Crisis Receiving Center, where Mainers experiencing a behavioral health crisis can receive care in a home-like environment.
The Department of Health and Human Services contracted with Spurwink to develop and implement the Crisis Center, which will soon be open 24/7. Services can currently be accessed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week and provides an alternative to hospital emergency departments and the corrections system.
Located at 62 Elm St. in Portland, the center is supported in part by this year's state budget.
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