In a June 4 press release, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it added ten new states to the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Medicaid Demonstration program in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The news release noted that the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) gave the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to add ten new states to the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration program every two years. Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont successfully built the state-level infrastructure to develop programs that meet the CCBHC requirements.
“Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics have significantly improved behavioral health treatment in our country, and today’s announcement will dramatically expand and improve access to equitable, quality care for Americans with serious mental health and substance use treatment needs,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, in a statement.
CCBHCs provide community-based healthcare regardless of where people live or their ability to pay. They are required to offer routine outpatient care within ten business days. Additionally, CCBHSs are expected to offer around-the-clock crisis intervention services to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises.
“The CCBHC Demonstration Program provides reimbursement through Medicaid for the full cost of services that CCBHCs provide, at higher, more competitive rates than community mental health centers previously received for Medicaid-eligible individuals. This sustainable funding also ensures CCBHCs can provide a more comprehensive range of services rather than fragmented services driven by separate billing codes,” as explained in the press release.
“The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), which administers the Illinois Medicaid program, identified 19 mental health and substance use treatment providers across the state to participate in the demonstration program,” noted a June 5 news release from the Office of Governor J.B. Pritzker.
“We are thrilled that our federal partners have chosen Illinois to participate in the CCBHC Demonstration Program, which will have a significant impact on increasing behavioral health and substance use treatment access across the state,” said HFS Director Elizabeth Whitehorn in a statement. “Behavioral healthcare faces major capacity challenges across the nation, and this program recognizes that we must find a way to serve individuals in crisis, regardless of where they live and whether they have the ability to pay. This program will expand access in critical ways for people who have struggled in the past to find the services they need.”
“Today’s announcement by HHS will allow Kansas to continue to build on the success we’ve seen over the past three years since we began efforts to modernize Kansas’ mental health system utilizing the CCBHC model and since being named as one of the 15 states initially participating in the planning phase,” Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services Secretary Laura Howard said. “The collaboration this model fosters means the opportunity to further expand and improve access to comprehensive behavioral and mental care.”
HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm commented in a statement, “Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics serve anyone who requests care for mental health or substance use conditions. With sustainable funding, CCBHCs in participating states will now be able to connect more people to the care they need.”
