Mental Health

CMS Reminds States EPSDT Requirement Includes Behavioral Health, Offers Specific Strategies

Medicaid’s pediatric benefit, Early and Periodic Screening Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT), is getting more attention from federal officials. As part of its child health-focused release yesterday, CMS released a new Informational Bulletin reiterating EPSDT’s requirement to cover screenings and medically necessary treatment for children’s behavioral health, mental health and substance use disorders. The timing is […]

Elisabeth Wright Burak

August 19, 2022

Children’s Health and Well-Being Get Much Needed Attention from CMS this Week

CMS made three big announcements yesterday, drawing attention to ways Medicaid and CHIP can support children’s health and well-being. The first two announcements are sub-regulatory guidance documents, essentially bringing together all of the existing state options and best practices on behavioral health and school-based health. Sub-regulatory guidance doesn’t include new policy, but rather aims to […]

Kelly Whitener

August 19, 2022

Medicaid and the 988 Mental Health Crisis Services Lifeline: State Approaches

Last month, the new three-digit mental health crisis and suicide prevention number – 988 – went live for call, text, and chat. Established by the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, this easy to remember number is meant to support people experiencing suicidal ideation, mental health and substance use crises, or any kind of […]

Natalie Lawson, Anne Dwyer August 3, 2022

New Data from CMS Shows Mental Health Services for Children Continue to Lag Behind Pre-Pandemic Levels

This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an update to its Medicaid and CHIP COVID-19 data snapshot with new data through January 2022. Unfortunately, as highlighted in the snapshot, while the number of mental health services provided to adults during the public health emergency nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels, the rate […]

Anne Dwyer

June 27, 2022

Senate Releases Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Includes Medicaid Mental Health Provisions

[Editor’s Note: The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act has since passed the Senate and the House and was signed into law by the President on Saturday, June 25th.] As we wrote about last week, the Senate has been actively working to advance an agreement on a gun safety bill that includes a number of provisions related to mental health. […]

Anne Dwyer

June 23, 2022

Congress Focuses on Mental Health, Medicaid Gains Attention

This week has been a busy one on Capitol Hill as it relates to congressional efforts on mental health. On Sunday, a bipartisan group of twenty Senators announced they had reached an agreement on a framework related to gun safety including investments in child and family mental health services. On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee […]

Anne Dwyer

June 17, 2022