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House budget adds Medicaid and mental‑health items including mobile crisis and PRTF rate increases
Summary
Department of Community Health staff told the House appropriations committee the House added a range of programmatic items — from mobile crisis cost adjustments and 988 funding to a proposed PRTF daily rate increase and dental rate hikes — many intended to sustain services or expand access.
Cody Whitlock, presenting House changes for the Department of Community Health, summarized a set of programmatic adjustments the House added to the governor’s health budget.
Whitlock told the committee the House used opioid trust and other sources to replace state dollars in some programs, and added items ranging from a mobile-crisis contract increase and funding to maintain 988 call-center capacity to dental code rate increases of roughly 20 percent. He described that the mobile crisis item reflects a rebid and inflation-driven contract increase rather than added services.
On behavioral‑health facility payments, Whitlock said the House proposed raising PRTF (psychiatric residential treatment facility) rates to $800 per day from about $649. The package also includes funding to maintain existing jail-based restoration beds and money intended to support discharge planning specialists at PRTFs to improve transitions to community care.
The House also directed DCH to report on the 340B program (a request tied to House Bill 139) and included other adjustments: increases for autism parental training (ABA code 97156), air ambulance reimbursement up to 67% of Medicare, adult heart and lung transplant coverage for Medicaid, and larger PPS payments for some FQHCs.
Committee members asked for implementation details and cost breakdowns; Whitlock and staff said they would follow up with the requested analyses. The items described are house-added amendments and will require the appropriations process to finalize funding.
