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FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2004

NATIONAL REPORT FAULTS GEORGIA’S

PROBLEM-PLAGUED MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 30, 2004) – An assessment of health care in the 50 states, released here today, finds that Georgia is failing to keep up in the field of mental health care. The report criticizes Georgia’s community-based mental health system for problems including fraud and poor financial management. It appears in the February 2004 issue of Governing magazine.

Georgia decentralized its mental health system in 1993, moving management of community-based services to regional boards, which contract with community service boards for the delivery of care. But the regional boards were ill-equipped to carry out both program design and oversight and serious problems developed with several contractors. Governing reports that two of Georgia’s 25 community service boards are under investigation for Medicaid fraud, and another needed a consultant to fix a projected $6.5 million deficit.

“In theory, Georgia developed a strong model for regional management of its community-based mental health system,” said Michele Mariani, co-author of the special issue of Governing. “But in reality, the model hasn’t held up well. Employees of regional boards have lacked the training and resources necessary to effectively fulfill their responsibilities, and the cracks in the system have grown larger.”

Governing’s report adds that in response to the series of problems identified, oversight of the contractors has reverted back to the state Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse, and Governor Sonny Perdue has ordered audits of every community service board.

On the positive side, Georgia has had enormous success in its “Peach Care” program, which covers about 190,000 children in the state, say the report’s authors. The effort is generally well regarded for its efficiency and customer-friendly approach.

Governing’s analysis of state-funded health care is part of the Government Performance Project, a six-year-old effort, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, to evaluate a wide range of state government management and policy functions. This year’s special report focuses on six critical health care problems facing states: long-term care, public health, mental health, prescription drugs, access to care for the uninsured, and care for children.

The Government Performance Project found and documented the inability of the 50 states’ health care system to deliver improvements in medicine fairly and consistently to many of their citizens. Health care in most states is not just inadequate, the study concluded--it’s deteriorating. “After exhaustive analysis and hundreds of interviews,” says Peter Harkness, Governing’s publisher and editor, “it became clear that there is a health care crisis in America. But it is in no way a medical crisis. It is a fiscal crisis.”

Governing is a policy and management magazine aimed at high-level state and local government officials. An online version of this report will be available at http://www.governing.com/gpp/2004/intro.htm as of January 29. Press releases for each of the 50 states can be found at http://www.governing.com/gpp/2004/press.htm.

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