CMS Approves New Hampshires Re quest to Provide Essential Beha vioral Health Services Through Mobile Crisis Intervention Team

CMS Approves New Hampshire’s Request to Provide Essential Behavioral Health Services Through Mobile Crisis Intervention Team

Thanks to the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan, twenty states are now providing these critical services to individuals experiencing mental health or substance use disordersÂ

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), approved New Hampshire’s Medicaid State Plan Amendment for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. New Hampshire is now able to connect Medicaid-eligible individuals in crisis to a behavioral health provider 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. Importantly, this approval marks 20 states and the District of Columbia that have expanded access to community-based mental health and substance use services under a new Medicaid option created by the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan.Â

“Expanding access to mental health and substance use care – especially for those in crisis – is a top priority for the Biden-Harris Administration,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “I applaud New Hampshire for making mobile crisis care and other community-based supports available to its residents. I encourage more states to do the same. These resources save lives and improve health.”

“Mobile crisis services meet people where they are, providing essential mental health and substance use disorder services when people need them most,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “I applaud New Hampshire on this policy because we know that meeting people in crisis where they are, with access to a behavioral health specialist 24 hours per day, can help save lives,” “This is especially poignant during National Recovery Month to offer support, celebrate those working through recovery, and highlight treatment and recovery practices.”

The Biden-Harris Administration has made addressing the nation’s mental health crisis a top priority, and this new option gives states an opportunity to support community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide services for individuals with Medicaid. Mobile crisis intervention teams aim to provide rapid response, individual assessment, and crisis de-escalation by trained behavioral health professionals and paraprofessionals. The multidisciplinary team provides screening and assessment; stabilization and de-escalation; and coordination with and referrals to health, social, and other services, as needed. This helps states better integrate behavioral health services into their Medicaid programs – a cornerstone of the sustainable, public health-focused support networks our communities need.

Providing fast, appropriate care to someone in crisis may reduce the need for costly inpatient services, and this new option will help New Hampshire expand access to behavioral health professionals as the initial contact for someone in crisis. New Hampshire can now receive Medicaid funding for mobile crisis response crisis planning, directly connecting people to specialized services, referring  ongoing supports, and following-up check-ins for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis.

In addition to New Hampshire, the following states, as well as the District of Columbia, have received approval to implement this provision through a State Plan amendment: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

Today’s announcement is the latest in HHS’s ongoing efforts to support President Biden’s whole-of-government strategy to transform mental health services for all Americans – a key part of the President’s Unity Agenda. For more information on New Hampshire’s approval, visit Medicaid.gov.

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