Beech Tree News Network

The following statement was given to Beech Tree News by Bruce Jennings, Executive Director of People Who Care Ministries.
" On behalf of the People Who Care Ministries Board, we are saddened to announce we are closing Andrea`s Mission for Men and Women. We want to thank God for all He has done through the staff, volunteers and others who have contributed to Andrea`s Mission. We want to thank all those who have made great sacrifices to carry out the mission of our agency. There have been many lives changed because of your contributions. The legacy of Andrea`s Mission will continue as those changed lives give care and support for others struggling in addiction.
For all but very short periods of time, Andrea`s Mission has struggled financially due to the ever-changing processes of Managed Care Organizations who insure those who are Medicaid eligible. Medicaid eligible clients make up 90 plus percent of the financial resources of Andrea`s Mission. In 2017, a client would be Medicaid approved for treatment for six months or longer decreasing to 3 months at the close of that year, length of stay continued to decrease throughout 2018 to 28 days with projections for 2019 to be 18 days of residential treatment. We constantly had to change our programming to accommodate these changes. We also had to consider those who really needed treatment, appeared to qualify by Medicaid criteria, but would be turned down for residential treatment by the MCOs. We provided treatment for many of these regardless of insurance in the past but found ourselves doing it less and less to the point of only taking those who had insurance in order to pay the bills. This really called into question our only true mission of sharing Jesus Christ`s healing power with all those who are struggling in addiction. Medicaid also viewed medically assisted treatment, methadone, suboxone and buprenorphine as being the Gold Standard for drug treatment which we felt was just trading one addiction for another. Ultimately, the week to week struggles of working with insurance companies and making payroll became unmanageable.
God has always chosen to sustain Andrea`s Mission but this time was different. In Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, the bible says there is a season for everything, God truly has provided a bountiful season at Andrea`s Mission. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction and want help, please call Kentucky Help 24/7 at 1-833-859-4357.