The state crackdown on fraudulent and excessive billing for outpatient behavioral health services has not waivered since its May announcement.
If anything, the Arizona Heath Care Cost Containment System’s actions under the American Indian Health Program has accelerated.
The agency added 64 providers to its list of suspension last month alone – bringing the total number of suspensions since May to 226.
Eight of the latest suspensions are in Mesa.
Rev. Andre Miller, pastor of the New Beginnings Church in Mesa, has been speaking with many providers and clients affected by the crackdown.
The state’s actions are “bleeding out many businesses and that’s not OK,” he said.
Miller has been working with suspended providers to try to find new housing for people facing displacement from sober living homes.
He believes the state was unprepared to handle the surge of people displaced from housing connected with suspended behavioral health clinics.