CMS Now Allowing Medicaid To Pay For Mental Health Treatments For Adults

Modern Healthcare (7/5, Dickson, Subscription Publication) reports ever since Medicaid was created in 1965, it “has excluded payment for institutions of mental disease (IMDs) for beneficiaries 21 and over,” and the majority of “residential treatment facilities for mental health and substance use disorders with more than 16 beds did not qualify for Medicaid reimbursement.” On July 5, that five-decade ban was lifted, but experts say it will take some time before beneficiaries can take advantage of the change. According to Andrew Sperling, director of legislative affairs for NAMI, “No radical change is expected July 5th as plans need to contract with facilities and those agreements may not kick in until the next contract year.”

Related Links:

— “Medicaid plans can now pay mental health institutions. Most won’t until 2017,” Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare, July 5, 2016.

Posted in In The News.