The Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing Friday on a state plan to remove some Mainers with mental illnesses from a program that provides support services.

The hearing will be held at 1 p.m. in Room 209 of the Cross Office Building in Augusta.

At issue is a Maine Department of Health and Human Services plan to change Section 17 of the MaineCare Benefits Manual, which covers mental health support services, such as case management and help with daily living. 

Department officials have said Section 17 should be reserved for people with significant mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. They have said too many Mainers are getting intensive services they don’t need while people who do need them sit on a waiting list.

DHHS recently sent a letter to more than 24,000 Mainers advising them that they may lose services beginning April 8.

Advocates and those who get help through Section 17 have said the looming change is poorly thought out and its details are confusing. They believe people could lose the services they need. 

“There is major confusion about what this is going to mean for people,” said Simonne Maline, executive director of the Consumer Council System of Maine, an Augusta-based independent organization that represents consumers of mental health services.  

DHHS has called its plan for Section 17 a “routine technical” change, which means the department can enact it without legislative review or approval. Advocacy groups and Mainers who get help through Section 17 have said the change is actually substantive and should require an OK from legislators. 

Last week, they petitioned the Health and Human Services Committee to hold a hearing on the planned changes.

Friday’s meeting is expected to include both a public hearing and a recommendation by the committee. The committee could propose legislation to head off the department’s changes.

Any proposed bill would need approval from the full Legislature to go into effect.

ltice@sunjournal.com