Colorado’s New Behavioral Health Administration Is Ready to Invest. Now Budget Cuts Are on the Way.

Most people haven’t seen the BHA make a direct impact in their lives at this point, so lawmakers may see it as an easy target for cuts next year, said Vincent Atchity, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado.

He said he believes the BHA is on the right track, but lawmakers may interpret the long lead time as a sign the agency is failing and should lose funding. The agency missed early deadlines to get regulations in place, though providers and advocates for patients described lawmakers’ timeline for launching a new agency as borderline impossible, given the complexity of the behavioral health system.

“The feeling may be that anything and everything is up for grabs,” he said.

Atchity said cutting funds to the BHA wouldn’t directly damage mental health and addiction care now, but it would eliminate a chance to make the system work better for patients and families.

“At the end of the day, is it going to just be the same care, the same network of providers, and not the full care coordination that was the dream of the BHA?” he said.