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<br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 5, 2020 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-e <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Initiating the Process to Disengage from Cardinal Innovations Healthcare and to <br />Seek Realignment with Alliance Health <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT: County Manager’s Office <br /> <br /> <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />1. Administrative Rules Governing <br />Disengagement <br /> <br />2. Tailored Plan Preference Letter <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager <br />919-245-2308 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />PURPOSE: To authorize the County Manager to initiate the formal disengagement process <br />from the County’s current Local Management Entity-Managed Care Organization, Cardinal <br />Innovations Healthcare, and to seek realignment with Alliance Health to administer mental and <br />behavioral health services for Orange County residents. <br /> <br />BACKGROUND: Local Management Entities – Managed Care Organizations (LME-MCOs) are <br />public managed care organizations that administer behavioral health services for residents in <br />need of mental health, developmental disability, or substance use services. The State of North <br />Carolina is currently served by seven different LME-MCOs divided into regions. Cardinal <br />Innovations Healthcare currently serves Alamance, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Davidson, <br />Davie, Forsyth, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Mecklenburg, Orange, Rockingham, Person, <br />Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Union, Vance and Warren counties. Alliance Health currently serves <br />Cumberland, Durham, Johnston, and Wake counties. <br /> <br />North Carolina General Statutes and the North Carolina Administrative Code authorize and <br />prescribe the process through which a County may seek permission to disengage from one <br />LME-MCO and realign with another. The final decision making authority rests with the <br />Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The applicable administrative code <br />is attached as Attachment 1. <br /> <br />The first step in initiating disengagement is providing written notice of the County’s intent to <br />disengage to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Co-Chairs of the Joint <br />Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, and the affected counties a <br />minimum of nine months prior to the proposed effective date of disengagement. This abstract <br />would authorize the County Manager to send the disengagement notice letter and begin the <br />formal disengagement process. <br /> <br />1