(Radio Iowa) – The state is paying a Des Moines-based non-profit to manage the mental health and substance abuse services being provided under the new statewide behavioral health system. Aaron Todd is C-E-O of the Iowa Primary Care Association, the non-profit that’s been overseeing the 14 community health centers that primarily serve low income Iowans.

“The Community Health Centers in the last nine years have been a 440% increase in behavioral health visits at the Community Health Centers themselves,” he said. “They have waiting lists in the behavioral health services and so they’ve seen first hand that there is a great need.” Todd says the goal of the new system — which launched yesterday (Tuesday) — is to create a statewide safety net that connects those who need services with a provider.

“That works better for all Iowans, ultimately,” Todd says. A decade ago, the state hired private companies to oversee Iowa’s Medicaid program — and hospitals, doctors and other health care providers have complained about delays in getting reimbursed for providing care. Marissa Eyanson of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services says the state has created a simplified claim process for the new behavioral health system.

“So no more weird invoicing to multiple spaces in order for providers to be able to submit a bill,” she says. Officials say by Monday, contracts were signed with about 80 percent of the agencies and individuals that will be able to bill for mental health or substance abuse services — and the rest of the contracts were being reviewed and were nearly completed.