New Medicaid option promotes enhanced mental health, says HHS

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The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has unveiled a new option for supporting community-based mobile crisis-intervention services for those with Medicaid. Authorized under the American Rescue Plan, the agency said it's part of an effort to work with states to promote access to Medicaid services for people with mental-health and substance-use disorder crises.

Mobile crisis-intervention services are tools meant to meet people in crisis where they are and provide services to people experiencing mental-health or substance-use crises by connecting them to a behavioral health specialist 24/7.

According to HHS, this new option will help states integrate these services into their Medicaid programs, which the agency considers a critical component in establishing a sustainable and public-health-focused support network.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

While several states have community-based mobile crisis-intervention services in place, the ARP grants CMS new authority to provide states with additional resources and tools to enhance these programs. It provides additional federal funding to states for qualifying mobile crisis-intervention services for three years. 

The new Medicaid option also offers flexibility for states to design programs that work for their communities, allowing states to apply for this new option under several Medicaid authorities.

Community-based mobile crisis-intervention services, usually comprised of professional and paraprofessional staff, are able to respond quickly to crisis situations and provide individual assessment and crisis resolution, said HHS. The option will help states expand access to behavioral health professionals as the initial contact for someone in crisis. 

Providing immediate and appropriate care to someone in crisis may reduce the need for costly inpatient services.

The option also requires that crisis-response teams include one qualified behavioral healthcare professional who is able to provide an assessment within scope-of-practice requirements under state law. States can add other professionals and paraprofessionals with expertise in substance-use and/or mental-health crisis response. The teams are tasked with providing screening and assessment; stabilization and de-escalation; and coordination with and referrals to health, social and other services, as needed.

THE LARGER TREND

Part of the Biden Administration's effort to invest in behavioral health and crisis-care services, the guidance follows HHS' earlier announcement, made by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), of $282 million in ARP and FY2022 appropriations to help transition access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from its current 10-digit number to a three-digit dialing code – 988. 

The 988 dialing code will provide the public with easier access to life-saving services, said HHS, and will be available nationally for call, text or chat beginning in July 2022.

Separately, CMS also recently announced that $15 million in planning grants have been awarded to 20 states to support the development of community-based mobile crisis-intervention services for people with Medicaid.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com