Pennsylvania Medicaid Expands Coverage For ‘Street Medicine’

The Pennsylvania Medicaid program now covers “street medicine,” which includes physical and behavioral health services provided outside clinical settings by certain enrolled medical provider organizations. The coverage started July 5, 2023; the goal is to simplify how unsheltered homeless beneficiaries access care and to divert them, when possible, from visits to emergency departments.

Street medicine services delivered at non-clinical sites of care can be covered by the state’s Medicaid fee-for-service program and its HealthChoices managed care delivery systems. Street medicine services can be delivered by Medicaid enrolled physicians, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse practitioners, physician . . .