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Designated and specialized service agencies press Appropriations for 6.2% Medicaid rate increase
Summary
Designated and specialized service agencies, including Clara Martin Center and Washington County Mental Health, urged the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to adopt a 6.2% Medicaid rate increase (about $13.95 million in general funds) for FY26 to stabilize services and retain staff.
A group of designated and specialized service agencies told the joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees that a 6.2% Medicaid rate increase is necessary to sustain community mental health, substance‑use, and developmental disability supports.
Christy Everett, director of operations at the Clara Martin Center, told the committees the requested 6.2% increase would translate to $13,950,000 in general funds and is needed to cover rising operational costs and to retain qualified staff in an understaffed system. "A 6.2% rate increase is crucial to meet the rising cost of the services we provide," Everett said.
Alicia Post, co‑director of outpatient services at Washington County Mental Health, echoed that point and described long wait lists and nine‑month delays for some services, saying underfunded outpatient providers are driving people into costlier crisis care. "When outpatient services like ours are underfunded, people end up in crisis situations, which are far more expensive and less effective in the long term," Post said.
The agencies described their funding mix as largely Medicaid and grants and said rate increases are the primary lever to keep wages competitive and reduce turnover. Testimony warned that without the increase, programs would face additional closures and reduced preventative, upstream care.
Why it matters: Designated and specialized agencies deliver crisis hotlines, therapy, case management and other community‑based services that reduce reliance on emergency and facility care; committee decisions on Medicaid rates directly affect providers' capacity to deliver those services.
Speakers representing the request stressed the system‑wide nature of the problem rather than singling out individual agencies, noting that past underfunding has already caused program closures and service erosion.
The committees did not take a vote during the hearing; this testimony will be part of the FY26 budget deliberations.
