An Update On The State Medicaid Behavioral Health Carve-Out Landscape

As 2016 begins, we have decided to revisit the ever changing landscape of Medicaid health plan behavioral health carve-outs. There are two big changes in this space:

The number of state Medicaid plans with the typical primary behavioral health benefit carve-out is decreasing, and health plans are becoming increasingly responsible for managing these benefits.
The number of state Medicaid plans with a separate management entity for specific types of consumers, often referred to as the vertical carve-out continues to grow.

In the past year, at least eight states have either moved behavioral health services back into their . . .