New Medicaid Option Promotes Enhanced Mental Health, Substance Use Crisis Care

Expansion of Medicaid services is expected for people with mental health and substance use crises. States have a new option for supporting community-based mobile crisis intervention services for individuals with Medicaid--essential tools to meet people in crisis where they are and rapidly provide critical services to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises by connecting then to a behavioral health specialist 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. This new option will help states integrate these services into their Medicaid programs, a critical component in establishing a sustainable and public health-focused support network.