AMH Chosen for Medicaid Waiver

On June 7, the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) informed Mecklenburg County Area Mental Health (AMH) that it had been selected as the next Local Management Entity (LME) to participate in the State’s Medicaid waiver. Under the waiver, all Medicaid-funded services provided to AMH consumers (for mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse services) are joined into a single capitated funding model.  The waiver will give AMH local flexibility and control of Medicaid/State funding and is intended to provide consumers with better access to services and improved care.

Since 2005, Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare (PBH) has been the only LME in North Carolina to operate under the Medicaid waiver. In 2009, NCDHHS decided to expand the waiver program statewide using a phased approach, and issued a Request for Applications (RFA). Four LMEs submitted applications that were evaluated by a review team of representatives from NCDHHS and a human services consulting firm.

During the assessment, the review team looked for a proven track record of success, capacity to operate a managed care program, capacity and proven approach to managing system of care and capacity to implement the requirements specified in the RFA through a well-designed implementation plan. Mecklenburg’s LME demonstrated competency in all these areas.

The expected date for implementation is January 2011. AMH has already held meetings with consumers, providers and the general public to inform them about the waiver. Another series of meetings is being scheduled to ensure that the waiver implementation is a collaborative process among consumers, providers and other stakeholders. AMH will also be working with its Provider Council to develop quality standards that will be applied to all providers within the network to ensure that consumers receive the best quality of care.

Board members with questions should contact AMH Director Grayce Crockett - email or 704-336-8638.

 

Facility Security Services RFP
  
At the conclusion of last Tuesday’s Board meeting, staff was asked to provide information on a Request for Proposal (RFP) process regarding facility security services. The County’s facility security services are managed by the Real Estate Services Department (RES). Under the direction of the County’s security coordinator in RES, two vendors provide a variety of security services including armed and unarmed security at facilities and transport of bank deposits.

Although there is no urgent need to rebid for facility security services, we were amenable to testing the market for better pricing and/or services. Therefore, we opted to join Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in an RFP bid process for these services.

CPCC procurement staff prepared the RFP and is managing the bid process according to State requirements for community colleges. The RFP is structured to include two bids from submitting vendors: one for CPCC facilities only; and one for both CPCC and County facilities together (blended rate). This allows the County to reject the bid, while still enabling CPCC to move forward to meet its facility security needs. For example, if the County RES staff determines that the bid for the blended rate is not as competitive as the rates provided by the County’s current vendor for these services, the County’s portion of the proposal will be rejected.

Based on a variety of questions asked by potential bidders at the June 14 pre-bid conference, an addendum has been issued for the RFP extending the date for submission of questions to June 21, and bids are due July 1.

One potential bidder posed questions about the qualifications requirements and minority participation. The RFP for security services prepared by CPCC encourages the use of MWSBE firms, with language promoting the use of small contractors, minority contractors, disabled business enterprises, and women contractors. Because the scope of work is for CPCC facilities and County facilities, the size of the vendor work force needed is substantial. The RFP also requires a performance bond for 100% of the contract value, which may be a financial impediment for small businesses. The RFP also requires the primary contractor to have the capacity to provide security officers in the following categories: unarmed; armed; and company police force. The provision of a company police force with sworn law enforcement officers requires special State licensing, which also may be an impediment to small businesses.

However, as with most RFPs for large contracts, there are opportunities for small businesses to participate by subcontracting to primary contractors. The RFP mentions subcontracting throughout and specifically, as follows: “Offerors may propose subcontracted portions of the work provided that their proposals clearly indicate what work they plan to subcontract and to whom and that all information required about the prime contractor is also included for each proposed subcontractor.”

The RFP was prepared before it became clear that RES would be responsible for providing security services at public library facilities. Therefore, the County’s portion of this RFP is only for County facilities. However, if we accept the vendor pricing in conjunction with CPCC, we have the option to add the library facilities to the contract.

Board members with questions should contact Real Estate Services Director Mark Hahn - email or 704-336-5483.

- Harry L. Jones, Sr., County Manager