Guess you just don't keep up.
Here are a few of the happenings -
Federal Officials Approve W..Va. Plan to Expand Medicaid Coverage for Drug Treatment
States have to apply for a waiver and outline how their plan will work, save lives and cost.
Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can waive certain Medicaid rules. In the letter, CMS told state officials that under Section 1115, they could “test Medicaid coverage” of more types of substance abuse treatment, but must demonstrate improved care and be budget-neutral.
Medicaid does not pay for addiction treatment at “institutions of mental disease” with more than 16 beds, due to a 1965 rule enacted during the push to move patients from state psychiatric hospitals to community-based services. Beane said the waiver would allow Medicaid to pay for services at residential treatment facilities, but Medicaidmwill not be paying for recovery housing.
West Va wants to use peer recovery counsellors but they have to figure out a way to license them.
All the states are having to determine the best way to do this and figure out the cost, what they need, where will it happen etc.
W.Va should be up and running by next summer - government's moves slowly but there is a lot to do. We could just give them a block grant and say go for it.
