Latest
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Ten New States Join the CCBHC Medicaid Demonstration, H.R. 1 Puts Its Success at Risk
As readers of the blog know, the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model has been one of the rare bright spots in more recent federal behavioral health policy and one with deep bipartisan roots. As a reminder, CCBHCs are community-based behavioral health providers that meet federal certification criteria. While some operate independently, the CCBHC…
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A Decade Later, CMS Updates the Medicaid EPSDT Playbook for States: Here’s What You Need to Know
The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit is the heart of Medicaid’s coverage for children, and something we have been tracking for a long time. As highlighted in past blog posts, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) released a landmark state health official letter in 2024 followed up by issuance…
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New Report Shows How States Can Leverage School Medicaid Programs to Protect K-12 Education Funding
A new report from the Urban Institute details the difficult situation state lawmakers and executive leaders will face as they grapple with the loss of federal funding due to HR 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” that was signed into law July 4, 2025. While the law did not directly cut…
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CMS Releases Long-Awaited EPSDT Behavioral Health Toolkit for States
Say Ahhh! readers will recall that when we blogged about the behavioral health section of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) landmark 2024 EPSDT guidance, we noted that CMS had an additional EPSDT behavioral health resource in the works — an EPSDT Behavioral Health Services Toolkit. Now, over two years later, that toolkit…
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The Perfect Storm: How Immigration and Medicaid Policy Changes Are Exacerbating a Student Mental Health Crisis
Before the current wave of immigration policy changes, America’s children were already in crisis. Youth mental health had deteriorated to the point that in 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a public health advisory and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association took the…