Vermont to lose funding source for psychiatric hospital

The state has been told it must quit using millions in Medicaid money to fund certain psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse centers, information technology projects and education programs.

The federal government is restricting the use of money on certain initiatives as part of the agreement renewed in October called the global commitment waiver that gives Vermont a big pot of Medicaid money to spend in many different ways.

The biggest impact will be on psychiatric services. Within five years, the state will be required to start switching to other ways to pay for psychiatric treatment at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin and the Brattleboro Retreat.

The federal government is requiring that the state “phase down” the use of federal funding for “facilities that qualify as an institution of mental disease (IMD) under federal law, which is a facility primarily for mental health or substance use disorder treatment” with more than 16 beds, according to Dean Mudgett, the spokesperson for the Agency of Human Services.

Read more: http://vtdigger.org/2016/11/16/vermont-lose-funding-source-psychiatric-hospital/