What is an LME/MCO?

 It often feels like the mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse (MH/DD/SA) fields and acronyms go hand in hand.  These acronyms can be confusing and intimidating to people who are not intimately familiar with this area of the law and practice.  This confusion is exacerbated by the fact that over the last few decades, there have been a number of changes to the delivery of public MH/DD/SA services in North Carolina.  One of the major changes was the creation of local management entities/managed care organizations (LME/MCOs).