Idaho Patient Deaths Linked to ACT Program Cuts
Spokane News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · The Daily News Now!
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Show Notes
Idahos Mobile Mental Health Program, ACT, Cut: Four Deaths Linked to Cuts, Bill Stuck for Funding
In Idaho, a nurse practitioner mourns the loss of a patient who made significant progress in the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program, a mobile mental health service for severely ill individuals. After Medicaid cuts in December, the patients visits dropped, leading to his death. Four patient deaths have been linked to the cuts in less than four months, compared to one in the previous year and a half. The program provided intensive, on-site care, and providers like Meredith Sievers question if more support could have prevented these deaths.
Despite assurances that ACT services continue, providers report the mobile teams are gone due to lack of pay. A bill to reinstate the program, House Bill seven fifty-three, is stuck without a full hearing due to funding issues. Republican Representative Ben Fuhriman estimates the cost to reinstate ACT for the rest of this fiscal year at one million three hundred thousand dollars and nearly four million dollars next year. Fuhriman believes these deaths could have been avoided and that reinstating ACT could save up to nine million dollars annually by preventing costlier crises. The cuts were part of broader Medicaid reductions due to a state budget crunch.
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