HealthExec November 7, 2019
CMS is launching a new behavioral health pilot in a Medicaid demonstration project in Washington, D.C., the agency announced Nov. 6. The pilot expands treatment services for Medicaid beneficiaries diagnosed with severe mental illnesses or serious emotional disturbance.
The pilot is the first of its kind in the nation and D.C. is the first to receive federal approval of the Medicaid benefit after HHS told Medicaid directors about the opportunity at the end of 2018. The demonstration allows approved Medicaid programs to overcome a payment exclusion to treat short-term residents in institutions for mental disease.
“For too long, our system has failed to provide Americans with serious mental illness and their families the treatment and assistance that they need,” HHS...