`Maryland's public mental health system's crisis continues,' says Community Behavioral Health Association; Vote by House Next Week to Decide Fate of System.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 2002

"Maryland's public mental health system's crisis continues," said Herb Cromwell, executive director of Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland. "Unless, the House votes to approve Senate Bill (SB) 10, clinics will continue to close, leaving the State's most vulnerable citizens on their own."

He adds, "The state's public mental health system has no money to keep struggling community mental health programs afloat - 13 outpatient clinics, the front-lines of the system, have closed and more will close soon if the underfunding crisis is not solved."

Next week, the House will vote on SB 10, a vital bill to help fund Maryland's public mental health community. However, HMO's, and perhaps the House, are opposing the bill because it lifts a 2% tax exemption paid by other insurers.

According to Cromwell, "It would be a terrible irony if HMO's, which have cost shifted to the public system for years, controlled the fate of our mental health system. We strongly urge the House to do the right thing, and help save our system."

"The 2% tax exemption HMO's now enjoy was never meant to be permanent," says Cromwell. "It makes sense to lift it now when it could save thousands of Maryland's children and adults from being denied crucial services."

Members of the House will vote on the fate of SB10 with in the next week.

The Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland is the professional association for more than 50 community behavioral health programs operating in the public and private sectors. CBH is the result of a July 2001 merger between the Maryland Association of Psychiatric Support Services (MAPSS) and the Maryland Council of Community Mental Health Programs (MCCMHP).