January 22, 2008
By JO CIAVAGLIA
Bucks County Courier Times
The county's largest short-term psych unit will stay open for the “foreseeable future” after hospital and county officials reached an agreement to increase insurance reimbursements for medical assistance patients.
Lower Bucks Hospital CEO and President Austin Cleveland confirmed the deal Monday, adding the 24-bed psych unit will remain open at least a couple more years.
“This is great news,” Cleveland said. “The need for these services is overwhelming.”
In November, the Bristol Township hospital notified the state of its intention to close the unit as of Feb. 2, citing an increasing financial burden caused by dwindling insurance reimbursements.
The pending closure created a public outcry among the mental health community and the hospital agreed to a three-month delay until stakeholders could attempt to find a financial solution that would keep the unit operating.
The county entered into negotiations on behalf of Magellan Behavioral Healthcare, its contracted service provider for county residents who receive medical assistance.
Magellan, the psych unit's largest payer, has agreed to “significantly” increase its reimbursement rates for government insured patients and the insurer also will increase reimbursements for private commercial patients, Cleveland said.
Cleveland did not provide dollar figures for the Magellan renegotiation, but said that it meant this year the unit would likely operate with a deficit of $25,000 to $50,000, rather than $500,000 as it has in recent years.
The new daily reimbursement rates for medical assistant patients will more closely reflect the rates Magellan pays for its private commercial insured patients, Bucks County Commissioners Chairman Jim Cawley said. He also could not immediately provide what the dollar difference was for the government verses commercial reimbursement rates.
“But it's a substantial difference that obviously meant something to the bottom line,” Cawley said.
Cawley, who sits on the Lower Bucks Hospital board of directors, added the county is also working with the Bristol Township hospital to better promote the unit among Lower Bucks area residents who may need the services.
“It's outstanding news,” he added. “It was very important to the Lower Bucks community, in general, that this service continues to be provided at Lower Bucks Hospital and I'm happy it's going to continue.”
A planned fact-finding meeting Thursday evening — called initially to brainstorm solutions to keep the psych unit open — will take place as scheduled, said its organizer, minority county Commissioner Diane Marseglia. The meeting will focus on gathering information and public concerns about the mental health system pertaining to the Lower Bucks area.
“We don't want to go through this again,” added Marseglia, a Democrat. “I'm encouraged. We certainly want to have it more long term.”
Mental health professionals and patient families were panicked at the prospect of losing another short-term psych unit, said Debbie Mortiz of the Bucks County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She was relieved to hear about the reprieve.
“Oh good, good, good,” Mortiz said. “I'm very, very happy.”
In recent years, Lower Bucks Hospital had been losing about $10,000 a week operating the mental health unit, Cleveland said. At least 40 percent of its patients are uninsured and many are homeless and had been hospitalized previously in the unit.
Last year, the Lower Bucks unit had 669 admissions compared with 618 the year before. The average stay ranged from three days to two weeks.
Besides being the largest short-term psych unit, it is the last unit in the Lower Bucks area that accepts adults under age 55.
Its closing would have cut in half the number of county inpatient beds from 105 to 53 in less than a year, a situation local mental health professionals said could mean that area residents face longer waits, farther travel for treatment and more difficulty coordinating care with out-of-county hospitals.
In October, Bucks County lost 36 psychiatric beds at Warminster Hospital, which closed after its sale to Abington Memorial Hospital. It has reopened as an outpatient center. Statewide, nine hospitals have closed psychiatric units in the last decade, according to the state health department.
Grand View Hospital in Sellersville and St. Luke's Hospital in Quakertown also have psychiatric units with 18 and 19 beds, respectively; Frankford Hospitals runs a 16-bed psych unit at its Falls campus for people age 55 and older.
Last updated on February 10, 2008
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