{"id":520466,"date":"2026-03-13T04:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T04:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/520466\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T04:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T04:17:07","slug":"fourth-patient-dies-after-idaho-cut-medicaid-mental-health-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/520466\/","title":{"rendered":"Fourth patient dies after Idaho cut Medicaid mental health service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun<\/a>) \u2014 Last week, one of Meredith Sievers\u2019 patients missed an appointment.<\/p>\n

The patient \u2014 in his late 40s \u2014 had gone down to once-a-week visits, Sievers said, after an Idaho Medicaid contractor cut a mobile treatment program for people with severe mental illness. The program was designed for people who have struggled in routine treatment settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He used to see providers several times a week, and was improving, Sievers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was actually doing really well,\u201d Sievers told the Idaho Capital Sun. \u201cHad achieved sobriety in the last couple of years. Was starting to go back to work. And was working toward becoming a recovery coach for people with other substance use disorders.\u201d<\/p>\n

After she asked around more, she learned he had died. But she doesn\u2019t know how or why, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Providers say it marks the fourth death among patients<\/a> who were receiving mobile, specialized treatment in less than four months since an Idaho Medicaid contractor cut the service<\/a>, called Assertive Community Treatment, or ACT. In the year and a half before the cut, only one patient on the program died, providers say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a special place in my heart for these people,\u201d said Sievers, who is a nurse practitioner and was the provider for the ACT team for a region in southwest Idaho. \u201cAnd they\u2019re really some of the nicest people you\u2019ll meet, but the most mentally ill. \u2026 To have that funding pulled from us was heartbreaking, because now we don\u2019t have a way to help those people.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED | After state cut a critical Medicaid mental health service, 2 eastern Idaho patients died<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED | A third patient has died after Idaho cut a Medicaid mental health service<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED | Despite recent cuts, Idaho is facing a projected state budget deficit, says report<\/a><\/p>\n

Magellan, the contractor that runs Idaho Medicaid mental health benefits, and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare were not immediately available for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State health officials have denied the entire ACT program was cut, saying services are still available. But some providers say the services that are still available aren\u2019t what the evidence-based program was like, because providers aren\u2019t paid to staff mobile treatment teams.<\/p>\n

About 200 people in Idaho are on the ACT program, Magellan Healthcare\u2019s Idaho Executive Director David Welsh wrote<\/a> in a December declaration in response to a federal lawsuit by patients.<\/p>\n

Idaho doesn\u2019t need more deaths \u2018that could have been avoided,\u2019 lawmaker says <\/p>\n

A bill to reinstate the program, introduced last month as House Bill 753<\/a>, hasn\u2019t had a full committee hearing \u2014 which is when it can advance to the full House.<\/p>\n

Rep. John Shirts, R-Weiser, talks with Rep. Ben Fuhriman, R-Shelley, on the House of Representatives floor on Jan. 14, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) <\/p>\n

Rep. Ben Fuhriman<\/a>, a Shelley Republican who\u2019s sponsoring the bill, told the Idaho Capital Sun that securing funding for the program is still a work in progress. His bill estimates the program would cost the state general fund $1.3 million to run for the next few months of this fiscal year, and nearly $4 million for next fiscal year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will reiterate that we need ACT, Peer Support, and the other mental health programs that were cut in December last year and there are some really good people working behind the scenes to try and make it happen,\u201d Fuhriman told the Sun in a text message Thursday. \u201cOnce we have identified funding, I hope ACT gets our full attention. The State of Idaho doesn\u2019t need any more patient deaths that could have been avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sievers said she believes her patient\u2019s death might have been preventable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know the circumstances around his death, so I don\u2019t know. Potentially it could have been prevented if we knew more,\u201d she told the Sun. \u201cSay it was medical, we could have been assisting him with getting to a doctor\u2019s appointment or whatever preventive medication he would need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other providers have said at least two of the first three patient deaths were preventable<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Ric Boyce, the owner of Chubbuck-based clinic Mental Health Specialists, wrote in a federal court declaration about the first patient death. The patient, also in his 40s, died after complications following a minor surgical procedure \u2014 after declining follow-up care or sticking to a treatment plan, Boyce wrote.<\/p>\n

How we got here: State had few options for cuts, official said <\/p>\n

Soon after the cuts were announced<\/a>, providers and the Idaho Sheriffs\u2019 Association warned the cuts would risk public safety<\/a>, and providers said the cuts would drive up other costs even more. Eastern Idaho crisis centers saw demand spike after the cuts, which also ended peer support services<\/a> that help people navigate mental health treatment.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s budget chief, Lori Wolff, previously told the Sun that preventive services are often the first to go when the state faces a budget crunch \u2014 because they are one of few options the state has<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Magellan\u2019s pay rate was reduced by the Department of Health and Welfare as part of Medicaid provider pay cuts<\/a> last year, after Gov. Brad Little ordered<\/a> state budget cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December, the state\u2019s Medicaid director told lawmakers that health officials aren\u2019t sure the cuts will save the state money<\/a> long-term. Fuhriman\u2019s bill estimates reinstating the program would save the state up to $9 million each year.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Idaho House to consider $22M cuts to Medicaid disability provider pay rates<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED | Idaho families defend disability services amid Republicans\u2019 Medicaid budget cuts<\/a><\/p>\n

Idaho Capital Sun<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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