By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


An outgoing lawmaker’s plan to improve mental health services has been signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

A bill introduced by State Representative Hank Vaupel creating a uniform Community Mental Health Services credentialing process was signed into law Tuesday. Credentialing is the process of obtaining, verifying and assessing the qualifications of a practitioner to provide services for a Community Mental Health organization. The need for uniform credentialing was recognized by the bi-partisan House C.A.R.E.S. Task Force, which identified it as a way to improve the process for providers and make it easier to accept Medicaid patients.

Vaupel co-chaired the task force and also chairs the House Health Policy Committee. He said House Bill 5178 is the first step in overhauling universal credentialing for Medicaid by starting with a smaller subset of mental health services. The Fowlerville Republican said uniform credentialing is a more direct and efficient way of operating that ultimately better serves Michiganders in need of mental health care. He said if a provider receives credentialing for one behavioral Medicaid health plan, they should not have to go through a similar process with additional health plans.

The legislation marks Vaupel’s last piece of legislation to pass the House, as his final term as state representative comes to a close on December 31st.

In addition to being signed by the governor, Vaupel’s bill was said to have received overwhelming bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.