March 23, 2021
The NC Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services and Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities, along with the Office of Rural Health and the Office of Minority Health provided an update today to the Joint House and Senate Appropriations Committee on HHS.
The Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services (DMH/DD/SAS) provides support and services for individuals with mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), and alcohol and substance use disorders. DMH/DD/SAS provides a variety of community services for these individuals, including workforce development, community and crisis services, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) services, and supports Licensed Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs). These community services account for 49% of the DMH/DD/SAS’s Base Budget.
$389.5 million in General Fund Appropriations is allocated for Community Services, and most is for Single Stream Funding to LME/MCOs (71%). There are seven LME/MCOs in the state, which provide behavioral health services for the State’s Medicaid program and for uninsured populations. The seven LME/MCOs include Alliance Health, Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, Eastpointe, Partners Behavioral Health Management, Sandhills Center, Trillium Health Resources, and Vaya Health.
The Division of State Operated Healthcare Facilities (DSOHF) is a system of 14 facilities across the state that treat adults and children with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance use disorder. This includes the state’s psychiatric hospitals at Broughton Hospital, Cherry Hospital, and Central Regional Hospital. The DSOHF also provides Alcohol & Drug Abuse Treatment Centers Developmental Centers, Neuro-Medical Treatment Centers, and Residential Programs for Children with severe emotional and behavioral needs.
The Office of Rural Health (ORH) supports equitable access to health care in rural and underserved communities by funding programs, training providers, and providing technical assistance to these communities. The ORH has $34,886,464 in total requirements for fiscal year 2021-23, including funds for rural health service administration, rural health recruitment and retention, telemedicine, rural health infrastructure, and low-income drug medical assistance in rural areas across the state.
The ORH was instrumental in COVID-19 response in rural communities that were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. $8 million was allocated for the Uninsured COVID-19 Primary Care Fund to develop a program to provide $150 per encounter for uninsured patients who received primary care services related to COVID-19, and $6.5 million in CARES Act Funding was allocated for the NC MedAssist program. The ORH also administered the Community Health Worker Program, which recruits, trains, and manages more than 400 Community Health Workers in 53 Counties with COVID-19 Hot Spots. Technical assistance and planning support was also provided by the ORH for telehealth services, PPE was distributed for primary care, and webinars were provided for rural health providers.
The Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (OMHHD) promotes and advocates for the elimination of health disparities among all racial and ethnic minorities and other underserved populations in North Carolina. OMHHD is located at NCDHHS within the Office of the Secretary, and has several key initiatives, including the NC Minority Diabetes Prevention Program, the Cultural and Community Health Initiative, and the NC Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services Program. The OMHHD also created the Historically Marginalized Populations Work Group in response to the pandemic, to address COVID-19 prevention and testing, case investigation and contact tracing, behavioral health needs, and wrap-around services for quarantine and isolation support. Furthermore, the OMHHD funded five LatinX community organizations and 4 African-American community organizations to support the Department’s efforts in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the disproportionate affect on minority populations.