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Rates bill seen as "now or never" lifeline for mental health centers
- bmellen2
- Mar 12
- 2 min read
Advocates lobbied Thursday for legislation to boost MassHealth reimbursement rates and buoy mental health centers, some of which they said are facing "now-or-never" decisions on whether to keep their doors open.
The proposal would be a boon to the more than 400 mental health centers around Massachusetts, which are looking at big deficits and workforce shortages, Association for Behavioral Healthcare CEO Lydia Conley said ahead of the briefing.
"We're hearing from some of our members that the size and scope of some of their deficits is, they are at a position with their boards where they're considering closing their clinics. And so now is the time to invest in behavioral health access, particularly through clinics," Conley said, describing the moment as "now-or-never" for "more than a handful" of care sites.
An ABH spokesperson said the bill could cost $200 million and would require MassHealth to increase all outpatient rates by 5 percent, while also requiring that MassHealth pay an additional 20 percent for outpatient services at mental health clinics. Conley pointed to MassHealth and Department of Public Health regulations that require a high level of care which "add[s] a lot of value" but is not currently reimbursed.
"So clinics today currently are experiencing hundreds of thousands of dollar losses. We're not able to recruit and retain staff. And so this would help mitigate some of the longstanding structural deficits and issues in terms of access to behavioral health," she said.
The bill (SD 981 / HD 1867), sponsored by Sen. John Keenan and Rep. James O'Day, follows legislation filed in the past two sessions, Conley said.
The Health Care Financing Committee, chaired by Rep. John Lawn and Sen. Cindy Friedman, stamped a favorable report on a similar bill in 2022, she said; it later died in the House Ways and Means Committee. Last session, a rewritten version was quietly snuffed by the health insurance committee with a study order.
March 6th, 2025
Sam Doran
State House News Service
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