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025 <br />SERVICE RATE INCREASES ANNOUNCED <br />Continuing the commitment to reinvest 1915 <br />MAO Medicaid Waiver savings into services, <br />Sandhills Center recently announced its decision <br />to increase service reimbursement rates by five <br />percent for all Innovations and Inpatient services. <br />These increases took effect November 1, 2015. <br />"Both Innovations and Inpatient services fill an <br />essential role in ensuring appropriate community <br />care is available to all of our members," said <br />Victoria Whitt, Chief Executive Officer of <br />Sandhills Center. "We hope that increasing our <br />investment in these critical services ensures their <br />continued availability for our members at a <br />high-quality level, and further illustrates our <br />commitment to Innovations and Inpatient service <br />providers." <br />Innovations services are available to participants <br />in the North Carolina Innovations Waiver, a <br />funding resource that offers assistance to <br />individuals with intellectual and developmental <br />disabilities who are at risk for institutional care <br />in an Intermediate Care Facility. For individuals <br />who receive Innovations funding through this <br />Medicaid Home and Community -Based Services <br />Waiver, an array of services and supports are <br />available that promote choice, control and <br />community integration as an alternative to <br />institutional care. Services include those that <br />meet enrollees' unique physical and medical <br />needs. <br />Sandhills Center maintains contracts with <br />36 hospitals to provide Inpatient services for <br />children, adolescents and adults. Inpatient <br />services provide treatment by psychiatrists, <br />physicians and other supportive medical profes- <br />sionals that is accessible 24 hours a day when an <br />individual cannot safely be served in a lower level <br />of care. Inpatient services fill a very important <br />community need for individuals who potentially <br />could be harmful to themselves or others. <br />Local Inpatient psychiatric beds are funded <br />through the North Carolina Department of Health <br />and Human Services, and are paid for through a <br />different source, therefore not subject to this <br />announced reimbursement rate increase for <br />Inpatient services. <br />Sandhills Center is committed to working <br />with community partners to improve access <br />and availability of high-quality behavioral <br />health services. We will continue to explore <br />opportunities to make adjustments to services, <br />reimbursement services, reimbursement rates <br />and service -delivery models to more effectively <br />meet individuals' identified needs. <br />41WE HOPE THAT INCREASING <br />OUR INVESTMENT IN THESE CRITICAL <br />SERVICES ENSURES THEIR CONTINUER <br />AVAILABILITY FOR OUR MEMBERS <br />AT A HIGH-QUALITY LEVEL <br />- VICTORIA WHITT, CEC <br />