{"id":313267,"date":"2025-11-25T18:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/313267\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T18:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:44:11","slug":"idaho-mental-health-clinics-sue-state-over-medicaid-contractors-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/313267\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho mental health clinics sue state over Medicaid contractor\u2019s cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IDAHO FALLS (Idaho Capital Sun<\/a>) \u2014 Four Idaho mental health clinics are suing the state over a contractor\u2019s plans to cut critical Idaho Medicaid services for people with severe mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed last week in state court, asks a judge to pause Magellan of Idaho\u2019s plans to cut specialized mobile teams that treat patients with severe mental illness who have struggled in routine settings. The cuts, providers argue, would effectively end the program, risking worsening mental health conditions and violent episodes in communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is critical care \u2014 without their medication, these patients pose a serious threat of harm to themselves or others,\u201d attorneys for the clinics wrote in support of their motion for a stay on the planned cut.<\/p>\n

Magellan\u2019s cuts, announced late last month, stem from the state\u2019s attempts to avoid a projected budget shortfall<\/a>, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. The private company, which runs Idaho Medicaid mental health benefits, plans to cut peer support services and the mobile treatment program, called Assertive Community Treatment, on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n

Spokespeople for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Magellan Health declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying they don\u2019t comment on pending litigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED | Idaho Medicaid contractor to cut critical services for people with severe mental illness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG<\/a>David George, EastIdahoNews.com Lawsuit follows outcry over the cuts <\/p>\n

Four mental health clinics \u2014 Access Behavioral Health Services, Tueller Counseling Service, Riverside Recovery and Mental Health Specialists \u2014 filed the lawsuit against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The providers argue that the state can\u2019t change payment methods for the Assertive Community Treatment program \u201cwithout following the required procedures; without publishing its decision and the reason for it; and without otherwise complying with applicable law.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED | Hundreds rally in Idaho Falls demanding better mental health services<\/a><\/p>\n

GALLERY | Rally in support of mental health services in Idaho<\/a><\/p>\n

Days before the lawsuit was filed, several leaders of the mental health clinics that sued the state told the Idaho Capital Sun they feared these cuts could risk violent episodes in communities<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many of the roughly 400 to 500 people on the program will end up homeless if the program ends, Tueller Counseling Service Clinical Director Tom Tueller previously told the Sun.<\/p>\n

In a news release Saturday, the Idaho Association of Community Providers said the program ending would shift costs to police, jails, local governments, hospitals and emergency medical services. The group\u2019s analysis<\/a> said the program costs the state $7 million each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdaho is eliminating every evidence-based program for its highest-acuity psychiatric populations,\u201d the analysis found. \u201cThese cuts will not save money \u2014 they will destabilize six distinct populations and shift $150-180 (million) in new costs to Idaho\u2019s hospitals, counties, EMS systems, and child-welfare programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Change.org petition<\/a> opposing Magellan\u2019s cuts has over 7,500 signatures.<\/p>\n

\t \t \t \t=htmlentities(get_the_title())?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=get_permalink()?>%0D%0A%0D%0A=htmlentities(‘For more stories like this one, be sure to visit https:\/\/www.eastidahonews.com\/ for all of the latest news, community events and more.’)?>&subject=Check%20out%20this%20story%20from%20EastIdahoNews” class=”fa-stack jDialog”> \t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IDAHO FALLS (Idaho Capital Sun) \u2014 Four Idaho mental health clinics are suing the state over a contractor\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-313267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}