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To better understand the variation in access to behavioral health services for adults in Medicaid, KFF surveyed state Medicaid officials about behavioral health benefits covered for adult enrollees in their fee-for-service programs.
KFF estimates that enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will have grown by 23.3 million enrollees, to nearly 95 million, by the end of March, when the federal continuous enrollment provision expires. On Thursday, March 16, 2023, KFF hosted an hour-long web briefing focused on how state Medicaid programs are approaching this unwinding of the continuous enrollment provision. States’ existing enrollment and renewal procedures and their differing approaches to the unwinding will have major impacts on Medicaid enrollees, state spending, and broader health coverage trends.
This brief describes 10 key points about the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment requirement, highlighting data and analyses that can inform the unwinding process as well as recent legislation and guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help states prepare for the end of the continuous enrollment provision.
Delivery system and payment reform are dynamic and ever-evolving policy areas of state Medicaid programs; virtually every state has initiatives underway. This interactive is designed to provide users with an environmental scan of the activity.
This analysis estimates Medicaid enrollment growth by state and eligibility group between February 2020, before the pandemic, and March 31, 2023, at the end of the continuous eligibility period. These estimates can help paint a picture of the overall number and composition of enrollees who may risk coverage loss after the continuous enrollment provision ends.
This policy watch discusses the new opportunities available to states to address health-related social needs through managed care and through Section 1115 demonstration waivers.
This analysis builds on previous KFF work by using Medicaid claims data for 2016-2019 to explore how prescriptions for opioids used to treat pain and those used to treat OUD or rapidly reverse overdose changed across states and Medicaid enrollee demographic groups over time.
In its role as a public program and the single largest payer of behavioral health services in the country, Medicaid is particularly well positioned to implement policy to improve the delivery, quality, and effectiveness of behavioral health services. Our analysis finds that 7.3 percent of Medicaid enrollees ages 12 to 64 had at least one clinically-identified substance use disorder in 2019, but this is likely an undercount, as other research suggests that prevalence is at least 4 times higher. People with clinically-identified SUD were more likely to be male, White, over 25 years old, and qualify for Medicaid based on a disability or through Medicaid expansion. Rates of clinically-identified SUD vary across states not only because of prevalence, but also because of other factors, such as provider screening behavior and variation in Medicaid coverage of services. National recommendations instruct providers to screen for substance use and conduct brief interventions for adults 18+, yet there may be gaps between SUD screening and referral. Other factors--such as patient privacy concerns or few healthcare visits--may also play a role in low identification of SUD.
Concerns about youth mental health and access to care continues to increase. Schools can be an easy access point for behavioral health services and Medicaid provides significant financing for the delivery of these services in schools. In this analysis, we explore the strategies state Medicaid programs are taking to promote and improve access to school-based behavioral health services, and how recent policies call on Medicaid to expand access to care for youth, particularly in schools.
This brief presents findings from a survey and roundtable discussion of Medicaid managed care plans about the role they may play in the unwinding of the pandemic-era continuous enrollment provision.
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