Mentally Ill Need Aid in TennCare-Less Era — Safety Net for 20,000 Will Take Time, Money

Even as the state moves to end health coverage for thousands of Tennessee adults, officials are scrambling to reach out to the roughly 20,000 residents battling severe mental illness who are eligible for help getting needed medicine and other care.

Nearly 1,900 of those who qualify live in Shelby County.

The state’s committed about $53 million in the next year to construct a mental health safety net for the adults battling severe, chronic mental illness who are losing TennCare. In Shelby County, the state has contracted with five mental health agencies to help with everything from help finding and managing medications to providing therapy.

But Janice Spillman of the state department of mental health and mental retardation warned “there is no way the safety net will replace TennCare.”

Meanwhile, Spillman said the community mental health centers and other agencies the state has hired to make up the safety net are now trying to contact those eligible for the supplemental services. When they lose TennCare, individuals should also receive a letter from the state mental health department describing how to access the extra care.

Spillman spoke during a Wednesday meeting of the Shelby County Commission’s hospital and health commission.

Her remarks come as the state proceeds with plans to cut roughly 288,000 adults from TennCare during the next year. Remaining patients will face new benefit limits. TennCare is the state’s experimental Medicaid program. Gov. Phil Bredesen has called the cuts difficult, but necessary given the state’s budget.

Commissioner George Flinn, who is also a physician, warned his fellow commissioners that the TennCare overhaul will lead to chaos. He said the state’s safety net isn’t adequate. “We can’t just say it will be OK and then assume it will be,” he said.

Mayor A C Wharton said the county will monitor how the cuts impact Shelby County, including crowding at the jail and Regional Medical Center at Memphis emergency department. He sent a letter Wednesday asking Bredesen for $10 million so the county could increase staff and operating hours at neighborhood clinics it operates with The Med.

Wharton also warned that without adequate community support, individuals battling serious mental illness are at risk of winding up in jail. He said although the county’s worked hard to keep the mentally ill out of jail, an estimated 350 of the 2,700 inmates at 201 Poplar are mentally ill.

– Mary Powers: 529-2383

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Building a Mental Health Safety Net

Shelby County residents who are losing TennCare and battling severe, chronic mental illness might be eligible for special services. They will be directed to one of the following agencies:

East Memphis: Case Management Inc., 821-5868

Frayser area: Comprehensive Counseling Network, 353-5440

Midtown Mental Health, 577-0200

Southeast Mental Health Center, 369-1480

Whitehaven-Southwest Mental Health Center, 259-1920

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