2024 advocacy piece

11 All New Jerseyans Are Worthy of a Stable, Sustainable Behavioral Health System of Care While immediate increases to rates and contracts, as well as regulatory and statutory changes are necessary to maintain and grow the behavioral healthcare workforce, much more needs to be invested to ensure its sustainability in the years to come. Mental health and substance use services’ rates and contracts received no across- the-board cost of living adjustments (COLAs) from January 2008 until fiscal year 2023. This was the leading contributing factor to recruitment and retention difficulties at behavioral health organizations. Ensuring that information is put before the Governor and Legislature each year regarding the level of COLA that should be provided INFRASTRUCTURE IS CRITICAL TO INTEGRATED CARE AND SUSTAINABILITY Behavioral health providers should also be supported with capital investments for facilities to be able to bring primary medical care to the individuals they serve and make necessary repairs and improvements. Individuals with mental health and substance use disorders and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience an inordinate number of serious comorbidities. Outcomes for these “high utilizers”, that small proportion of individuals using the greatest amount of health care and the state’s fiscal resources, are positively impacted when primary health care can readily be coordinated and delivered by behavioral health providers serving this population. And providers must receive funds to maintain their facilities, grounds and fleets to be able to provide a safe environment for staff and those served. in order for community-based providers to keep up with inflation is how another 15-year gap for increases and all the detrimental impacts can be prevented from re-occurring. Bills before the Legislature for the children’s and adults’ systems do just that, but do not mandate appropriations: They simply require calculations to show how much of an appropriation should be made when the funding is available. Equally important is having Medicaid rates cover the actual costs of care. This can be done by setting New Jersey’s Medicaid rates equal to Medicare rates. Doing so would also greatly increase access to care as so many private providers currently will not accept Medicaid due to the inadequate reimbursement rates and that prevents children, youth and adults - particularly those living in poverty, from communities of color, or with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds - from accessing health care.