More states will receive Medicaid funding for full-service mental health and substance use clinics that offer 24-hour crisis services.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday that a newer model of clinics, called certified community behavioral health clinics, in 10 states will now be eligible to receive Medicaid reimbursements under the Health and Human Services Demonstration Program. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.
“This is a game changer for many Americans,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a call with reporters. “Just as 988 is saving so many lives, these new 10 additional CCBHCs will save even more lives.”
The demo program was created and then applied to a a handful of states after passing the Protecting Access to Medicare Act in 2014. But while facing a raging mental health crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was then expanded as part of 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
CCHBCs in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont can now receive Medicaid funding in addition to the original program Member states.
Starting in July, CCHBCs in ten more states will become eligible for Medicaid reimbursements every two years as part of the expansion of the demonstration program provided by the Safer Communities Act.
CCHBCs are intended to offer a range of mental health and substance use services to anyone seeking care, regardless of condition, age, ability to pay, or housing situation.
These clinics are required to provide directly or partner with another organization to provide nine types of services, according to the National Council on Mental Wellness, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that has helped with CCHBCs.
Some of these services include offering 24-hour mobile crisis teams, emergency crisis intervention, and outpatient mental health and substance use disorders.
About 3 million Americans already receive care at a CCHCS, according to the National Council on Mental Welfare.
Nearly 80 percent of clinics report serving more people after becoming a CCBHC, and 87 percent of CCHBCs report offering one or more forms of medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, compared to 64 percent of CCHBC treatment facilities. substance use in general, according to the nonprofit.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
