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The Minnesota Legislature last year funded and established mental health programs and boosted reimbursement rates to providers. But mental health needs across the state and in southern Minnesota remain high.
The suicide rate in Minnesota in 2022 was 14.3 per 100,000 and the rate for the southwest Minnesota planning region of 23 counties, including Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, was more than 15 per 100,000, according to state data. Rural areas of Minnesota have suicide rates of 20 per 100,000, according to an analysis by the Center for Rural Policy and Development.
And the center notes rural area rates are “spiking higher and trending up faster” than rates in more populated urban areas.
The 2023 Legislature passed a number of programs aimed at preventing suicide and providing mental health treatment, but with a $17 billion budget surplus the $200 million spent to boost mental health programs fell short. In fact, the approved budget was below what was originally proposed by Gov. Tim Walz and the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), Minnesota.
The group notes there is widespread awareness of the mental health crisis facing Minnesota and the country even as the pandemic has faded. Suicide rates reported in 2022 are at a historical high in most areas even when compared to 2019, one of the worst years.
Providers are of course key to tackling the mental health crisis, and there remains a shortage. Waits to see a therapist sometimes last several months. The Legislature did increase reimbursement rates 3% plus inflation, but but NAMI calls that “not enough to address the current crisis.”
Currently, mental health providers are paid about 74% of what the government would pay for Medicaid patients.
While the current rate from the Department of Human Services for residential substance abuse treatment is about $79.84 per day, a recent study recommended the level should be nearly triple that, $216.90 per day.
Funding for mobile crisis and school-based mental health programs were funded for one year with reduced or no funding for the second year. That creates uncertainty for providers and stymies the growth and establishment of such programs.
Minnesota’s formula for reimbursement is not based on costs providers face or quality of care. It has been set arbitrarily. That must change.
The surplus is gone and it would have been one-time money in any event, but the Legislature and the governor must pull out all stops and figure out a way to fund mental health in Minnesota to a level that meets needs and costs.
With the lack of adequate funding, this crisis will only get more costly in terms of real dollars and lives lost.
You can find mental health resources by Googling “mental health resources + mankatofreepress” or going to this site: https://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/local_news/mental-health-resources/article_4e4c0286-fb3f-11eb-8e4b-cf780c9a480d.html
For the nationwide 24 hour, 7 day a week mental health help line dial or text 988 or to chat go to 988lifeline.org/chat.
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