Require CMMI to advance behavioral health integration
Recommendation
Congress should require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to advance behavioral health integration by adding support for adopting behavioral health integration as one of the types of opportunities the CMMI must consider when developing new demonstration models or revising existing models. [1]
Background/summary
In 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began paying physicians and non-physician practitioners separately for supplying patients with Behavioral Health Integrated Services (BHI).[2] These services involve a closer partnership between treating primary care and MH/SUD providers, which has proven beneficial to patients and has evolved into the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). The CoCM has been demonstrated effective by more than 90 randomized-controlled trials and can help to more effectively utilize limited MH/SUD provider capacity.[3] CMMI is responsible for testing alternative payment models. Given the demonstrated success of BHI/CoCM payment models at improving care and improving delivery efficiency, CMMI should be required to consider these models when developing new demonstration models or revising existing ones.[1][4] In 2022, the Senate Finance Committee’s bipartisan Mental Health Care Integration workgroup recommended such a requirement.[1]
citations
1. U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Bipartisan Mental Health Care Provisions. Last Accessed November 10, 2022.
2. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Behavioral Health Integration Services. March 2021.
3. The University of Washington AIMS Center. COLLABORATIVE CARE. (n.d.)
4. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Quality Payment Program. Alternative Payment Model (APM) Overview. (n.d.)