GRAND RAPIDS — About two weeks have passed since the news that IMCare, Itasca County’s sole provider of public health insurance for residents, would drop Lakeview Behavioral Health as an in-network provider at the end of the year.
Sarah Anderson, IMCare director, presented to Itasca County commissioners some key facts to “clear the air” on this complex issue.
“IMCare does not arbitrarily terminate contracts,” she said. “In fact, the last contract that was terminated by IMCare was in 2012, so contract termination is incredibly rare.”
At least 700 IMCare enrollees are expected to be impacted. Lakeview Behavioral Health is a for-profit mental health provider offering outpatient individual and group therapy, medication-assisted therapy, and substance use disorder treatment.
IMCare is one of the state’s county-based purchasing plans, which purchases the health care services for certain residents enrolled in public health coverage. Most of these county-based purchasing plans — usually involving a group of counties — are primarily in rural areas. Itasca County is unique in Minnesota for this plan that involves just one county.
Anderson said the decision to end the contract was made after facilitating a recent training with Lakeview to address concerns with claims and billing practices.
“IMCare has a statutory and contractual obligation with the state of Minnesota to appropriately manage public taxpayer funds allocated to Itasca County and IMCare,” she explained. “Part of this obligation requires us to follow up on our concerns about the care members receive and how that care is being billed to us.”
Anderson confirmed IMCare would honor the contract until Dec. 29, 2023, 120 days after notification, but spoke on some allegations her office received of canceled appointments and denied prescriptions at Lakeview Behavioral Health. She invited enrollees who have had these issues to contact her office to establish care with new providers.
“IMCare has a statutory and contractual obligation with the state of Minnesota to appropriately manage public taxpayer funds allocated to Itasca County and IMCare."Sarah Anderson, IMCare director
The Minnesota Reformer reported IMCare stopped payments to Lakeview following the notice of the planned termination, according to Lakeview Behavioral Health CEO Tom Johnson. Johnson said this was due to “an ongoing legal dispute over IMCare’s access to patient records.”
“IMCare would like to make sure that Lakeview Behavioral Health patients understand their ability to receive care from Lakeview Behavioral Health during this time of transition,” Anderson said.
The transition plan was approved by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and IMCare staff members are meeting regularly with the Minnesota Department of Health throughout this process, according to Anderson.
Access to mental health care is an important issue across Northern Minnesota. Rural communities across the country experience higher rates of depression and suicide than those in urban areas. Rural residents are also less likely to access mental health services, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Anderson said most of IMCare’s network providers can take on the influx of patients.
“We have heard from the vast majority of our other network providers that they will ensure that members have access and that they will be of assistance,” Anderson said. “It is our intent that there are no negative member outcomes, and we are doing all we can to make sure that happens.”
In a previous KAXE interview, Zack Kahmeyer, Lakeview Behavioral Health director of clinical services, disputed local providers' ability to absorb the IMCare patient load. He noted care must also be within a reasonable driving replacement for patients who may have limited access to transportation.
“What we're hearing is that those organizations don't really have the ability to absorb 700-plus IMCare members into their services," Kahmeyer said.
