Chapter 4 of the March 2016 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP addresses behavioral and physical health integration efforts within the Medicaid program, a strategy being used increasingly with the intent of improving outcomes and reducing health care costs for Medicaid beneficiaries with mental health and substance use disorders. Medicaid is the single largest payer in the United States for behavioral health services, accounting for 26 percent of spending on behavioral health services in 2009.
The March report notes that while integrating physical and behavioral health can reduce fragmentation of services and promote patient-centered care, in practice, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The report also describes policy barriers to integration, including same-day billing, and the exclusion on Medicaid payment for services provided in institutions for mental diseases (IMDs).
Publication Type: Reports to Congress