Medicaid integration

In this Health Affairs blog post, Nancy Archibald, MHA, MBA, CHCS’ Associate Director for Federal Integrated Care Programs, outlines perspectives from state Medicaid officials on the federal policies that have advanced Medicare-Medicaid integration, and areas where they believe additional federal policy actions are needed.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is working with states to promote access to Medicaid services for people with mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) crises. Authorized under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan (ARP), states have a new option for supporting community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals with Medicaid. This option will help states integrate these services into their Medicaid programs, a critical component in establishing a sustainable and public health-focused support network.