State of New Mexico
House of Representatives
Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House
Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, House Majority Whip

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                                                                                     Contact:    Dennis Hazlett
July 14, 2009                                                                            505-231-0142

Lawmakers Seek Audit of ValueOptions Contract

Santa Fe, NM – Thirteen New Mexico legislators today announced that they have requested State Auditor Hector Balderas to undertake a special programmatic and financial audit of former state behavioral health contractor ValueOptions.  ValueOptions was the first contractor selected by the New Mexico Interagency Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative, which was created in 2004 to distribute and oversee behavioral health funding in the state.  ValueOptions began its role as the “Statewide Entity” for behavioral health services in 2005.  The Collaborative announced on January 22 that it had completed contract negotiations with a new Statewide Entity, OptumHealth, to assume those duties on July 1 of this year.

In a letter to Balderas, thirteen lawmakers, State Representatives Nathan Cote (D-Dona Ana & Otero-53), Mary Helen Garcia (D-Dona Ana-34), Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo-21), Gloria Vaughan (R-Otero-51), Danice Picraux (D-Bernalillo-25), Bill O’Neill (D-Bernalillo-15) and John Heaton (D-Eddy-55) joined with Senators Cynthia Nava (D-Dona Ana-31) Steven Fischmann (D-Dona Ana & Sierra-37), Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-Bernalillo-12), David Ulibarri (D-Cibola, Socorro & Valencia-30), Dede Feldman (D-Bernalillo-13), and Mary Jane Garcia (D-Dona Ana-36) in requesting the audit.  The request was made in response to complaints the legislators had received from clients and providers about ValueOptions performance under its contract and the transition to the new contractor, OptumHealth.

Many of the complaints involved untimely and inadequate payments to behavioral health providers, resulting in their withdrawal from the program.  The letter also cites constituent complaints about inappropriate and untimely denials for services to clients, retaliation against providers who complained about ValueOptions policies and performance, increased administrative burdens on providers, and a failure to provide services that were culturally appropriate to New Mexico’s diverse populations.

The letter also alleges that the transition from ValueOptions to OptumHealth has been marked by providers’ difficulties in being able to reach ValueOptions personnel to resolve outstanding problems.

The lawmakers also expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the Behavioral Health Services Collaborative, the Human Services Department and the Department of Health in the administration of the contract, questioning whether due diligence has been exercised to enforce its terms.

The letter to Balderas also cited a report by the Legislative Finance Committee in August of 2008 that the costs of behavioral health services had risen drastically under the ValueOptions contract while the number of clients served apparently decreased.