BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Nearly one year after lawmakers and small-business owners cast a critical eye at the contractor managing mental health and substance treatment for Idaho’s poor, company officials say approval ratings remain high and problems are few.
Executives from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, told the House Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday that they had a 95 percent satisfaction rating among members who receive services from Medicaid mental health providers.
That’s according to the most recent sample survey the company sent out to members, said Becky diVittorio, executive director of Optum Idaho. She did not specify how many or when members were surveyed.
Information on provider satisfaction was not immediately available Wednesday, according to Optum officials.
Idaho pays Optum $10.5 million monthly to administer Medicaid’s outpatient behavioral health services. The state approved the contract to help lower Medicaid costs and incentivize providers to focus on appropriate services for patients. Optum also manages Medicaid health services for other states.
However, lawmakers say their constituents still face delays or cuts to services.
State Republican Rep. Merrill Beyeler of Leadore said that he represents a large rural legislative district where access to the proper certified therapists that Optum requires for some services are few or nonexistent. According to Optum, community-based rehabilitation is not an effective treatment for some children’s disorders. The company says it stresses evidence-based services and individual or family therapy.
But Beyeler said in a 100-person town like Leadore, community-based rehabilitation is the only service available. He said that he recently heard it took six months for Child Protective Services to get a 4-year-old Medicaid behavioral health services using Optum because of roadblocks over finding the right provider.
“I think it is a challenge,” diVittorio said. “I think we need to get creative.”
She added that the company is looking to expand the state’s telehealth network to help rural communities that may not have access to certified therapists. However, diVittorio also said Idaho already has the providers, the next hurdle is making sure they are all properly trained.
Lawmakers first heard about provider challenges with Optum last year during public testimony during a joint legislative meeting. Multiple providers reported long wait times and delayed payments ever since Optum began overseeing the Medicaid mental health program.
Optum immediately responded by hiring more call center employees and described the payment delays as a temporary glitch.
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