The suspension of Preferred Family Healthcare (PFH) of Springfield from the Medicaid program is raising concerns over mental health services in the area, something the Mountain Home School Board addressed at its July meeting last week. State agency officials suspended the behavioral health provider in June following the arrest of a former employee.
The Arkansas Times reports the company received $33 million in Medicaid funds in 2016. Preferred Family Healthcare was notified its contracts for non-Medicaid services, which includes substance abuse treatment, youth services and therapeutic foster care, were terminated.
Preferred Family Healthcare operates multiple locations in North Central Arkansas, including DaySpring Behavioral Services, which along with Ascent Children’s Health Services, provides mental health counseling at Mountain Home schools. The school also has one fulltime therapist, Matt Sutton, on staff.
Superintendent Dr. Jake Long says he asked the board to approve funding for additional mental health therapists for two reasons.
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Long says if and when the school hires the additional therapists will depend on the local companies and the support systems they put in place.
The Mountain Home superintendent also says he has had conversations with Circuit Judge Deanna “Suzie” Layton who says the move to cut Medicaid funding to Preferred Family Healthcare could be a huge problem for more than just the schools.
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On Monday, a judge ruled Arkansas officials acted properly in suspending Medicaid payments to PFH.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Administrative Law Judge Vicki Pickering upheld the suspension of the contracts by state officials.
Preferred Family appealed the suspension, but Pickering said federal regulations require states to suspend Medicaid payments in response to a
“credible allegation of fraud.”
The nonprofit says it’s reviewing the ruling before deciding whether to appeal it to circuit court.
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