Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey Awarded Innovative Behavioral Health Grant

January 2017 ~

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has selected eight states to participate in a new behavioral health demonstration program under which each states will receive Medicaid funding for behavioral health services, support, and treatment for eligible Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries.

The program will focus on Medicaid beneficiaries with serious mental illness, troubled children and patients with long-term drug use disorders. Clinics that qualify for the demonstration will be evaluated on 21 quality measures that gauge their ability to coordinate care with primary-care providers and community hospitals, use evidence-based practices and implement health information technology.

Among the states selected to participate in the two-year demonstration are Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. States will have until July 1 to begin their demonstration, with HHS expected to report on the performance of the programs annually beginning next December.

Source(s): Modern Healthcare; HHS; American Health Line;