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State hospitals accredited, but civil-commitment costs and longer stays drive supplemental requests
Summary
Analysts and the Department of Health and Welfare told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that all three state psychiatric hospitals are accredited, Medicaid billing produced some federal receipts, but civil-commitment costs and more patients exceeding 60-day federal billing limits are increasing state general fund needs.
Alex Leanson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, presented the Division of Psychiatric Hospitalization budget and noted the division is authorized 467 FTP across three hospitals: State Hospital South (Blackfoot), State Hospital North (Orofino) and State Hospital West (Nampa).
Leanson told the committee that in fiscal year 2024 the division’s expenditures were driven primarily by personnel and operating costs and that accreditation delays had previously affected the hospitals’ ability to bill Medicaid. Alex Adams, Director of the Department of Health and Welfare, confirmed all three facilities are now accredited; he reported State Hospital West had billed about $1.6 million and received $1.3 million in receipts so far after accreditation began billing Medicaid.
Why it matters: the division…
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