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Alpena County committee adopts resolution opposing MDHHS plan for competitive procurement of PIHPs
Summary
Alpena County's Finance Ways & Means Committee unanimously adopted Resolution #25-13 urging state leaders to halt plans for competitive procurement of Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHPs), citing risks to local control and service continuity; the action followed an annual report from Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health.
The Alpena County Finance Ways & Means Committee on Aug. 12 unanimously adopted Resolution #25-13 opposing the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' plan to initiate a competitive procurement for Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHPs).
Northeast Michigan Community Mental Health Executive Director Nena Sork presented the agency's FY24 annual report before the vote, saying NEMCMH served 2,140 individuals in 2024, provides crisis services countywide and partnered with the Overdose Prevention Engagement Network to provide free Narcan access. Sork told commissioners the agency recently completed a Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) review and “met 2,495 of the 2,500 standards,” with five unmet standards limited to policy changes.
The resolution states that moving PIHP management to a competitive procurement process could allow private or nonlocal managed care organizations to assume control of services, potentially disrupting relationships between local mental health authorities, providers and the communities they serve. It says such a change could jeopardize the “person-centered, recovery-oriented approach” and reduce local accountability.
“Many stakeholders, including individuals receiving services, advocates, local officials, and providers have expressed significant concerns about the potential impact of a competitive procurement process on care quality, access, local control, and transparency,” the resolution says. The Board urges Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, MDHHS leadership and the Michigan Legislature to halt privatization plans and work with counties and community mental health programs on any future changes.
Commissioner Lucille Bray moved adoption of Resolution #25-13, and Commissioner John Kozlowski supported the motion; the committee voted 8–0 to adopt it.
The resolution directs that copies be transmitted to Gov. Whitmer, MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel, Alpena's state legislative delegation and the Michigan Association of Counties. The committee also received the NEMCMH annual report for filing; no additional county action on funding or governance was taken at the meeting.
The committee's next procedural step is to transmit the adopted resolution to the named state officials and associations as stated in the resolution.
