Last January, when Bill Aldrich first saw Gov. Butch Otter’s 2011-12 state budget proposal, he noticed what wasn’t included.
Aldrich owns the Community Support Center, a Twin Falls facility that relies on Medicaid funding to provide services for people with mental disabilities, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe depression. He’s spent the last year struggling to keep the center open through another round of funding cuts. He hoped next year would be different.
He doesn’t hope as much now.
“It appears Otter isn’t in tune with the importance of mental health services,” he said. “I would like to stay open as long as possible, but at this point I don’t know how much longer we can do that.”
When Otter presented his budget recommendations for fiscal 2012-13, he proposed $45 million in tax cuts and $60 million to replenish state reserve accounts.
He didn’t mention replacing the almost $35 million cut from the Medicaid budget during last year’s legislative session. Those cuts, coupled with previous budget reductions, have forced the Department of Health and Welfare to reduce services for adult mental health patients.
That doesn’t mean mental health isn’t on the governor’s mind, said Otter’s office.
“While we understand and are empathetic to the concerns that have been raised … we are still working on this issue with constituents, lawmakers, stakeholders and the public, ever mindful of the limited resources available, which has impacted every corner of state government,” said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian.
Still, some lawmakers are worried.
Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, said cuts to mental health services put Idaho’s most vulnerable at risk.
Jerome Republican Rep. Maxine Bell, co-chairwoman of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, has expressed concern about the long-term costs of cutting state funding for Medicaid. Those who may have previously received mental health services through centers funded by Medicaid may begin to show up more in emergency rooms and jails, for example.
That means taxpayers are still footing the bill on the county level, but the exact impact is hard to measure, said Tony Poinelli of the Idaho Association of Counties. Each county handles mental health emergencies differently, he said.
Some may pay for mental health costs with indigent funds, while others pay through the prosecutor’s budget. Statewide, counties pay between $5 million and $6 million annually for involuntary mental health commitments.
Idaho mental health holds — where police responding to an emergency determine a mental health evaluation of a subject is necessary — have increased 19 percent from 2008 to 2011, according to the Department of Health and Welfare. Numerous factors attribute to that, said spokeswoman Emily Simnitt, including continued economic stresses, high unemployment and Idaho soldiers returning from war.
“The number of people with mental illnesses in our jail has always been high and the county is picking up the tab,” said Lou Probasco, Twin Falls County Jail nursing director. “It costs thousands of dollars every year to get them on the right medications and find out what they really need.”
Last year, Jerome County paid more than $136,100 in hospital bills that went to cover emergency care for adults with mental illnesses. The county used to pay more, but as the bill escalated, the county changed its process.
Involuntary cases are now presented to a judge who decides if the county will cover the hospital bill.
kkruesi@magicvalley.com
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