On July 20, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved state plan amendments (SPAs) from California and Kentucky for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams.
Under the SPAs, California and Kentucky can provide 24/7 Medicaid services to eligible individuals experiencing a behavioral health or substance use crisis. Mobile crisis intervention teams aim to provide rapid response, individual assessment, and crisis de-escalation by trained behavioral health professionals and paraprofessionals, CMS says.
Six states now have expanded access to community-based mental health and substance use crisis care through the state plan authority established by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in 2021. In September 2022, Oregon became the first state to gain approval.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
