At the January 27 Medical Assistance Advisory Committee Deputy Secretaries David Feinberg, Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP), and Joan Erney,Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) discussed the recommendations made by PeopleStat regarding the “MA/MH Budget Appropriation and Administrative Re-Alignment Initiative.” The Department of Public Welfare (DPW) maintains that this is merely an administrative process that should be seamless for providers and consumers. They reiterated that this is not being done for cost-saving purposes, but instead to allow for administrative efficiency in aligning fiscal and programmatic responsibilities for behavioral health services within OMHSAS.
This is the first written communication that PCPA has received from the department that includes concrete information about what program responsibilities will be transferred. Responsibility for behavioral health fee-for-service programs policy and regulatory development, budget development and monitoring, fee setting, provider training and oversight, and quality assurance functions are to be transferred from OMAP to OMHSAS. Provider enrollment, claims processing, and program integrity will continue to be housed in OMAP.
The “MA/MH Budget Appropriation and Administrative Re-alignment Initiative” document has been forwarded to the PCPA OMHSAS/OMAP Restructuring Work Group of the system redesign initiative for review and further action. Please contact Betty Simmonds at 717-657-7078 or via email with questions.
