New York Medicaid Delays Statewide Launch Of Behavioral Health Home & Community Based Services For HARP Population

In December 2015, the New York Medicaid program announced a three-month delay in the statewide launch of the new Adult Behavioral Health Home and Community Based Services (BH HCBS) program for Medicaid beneficiaries with serious mental illness enrolled in specialized managed care Health and Recovery Plans (HARPs). The statewide launch was planned to begin in July 1, 2016; the launch has been moved to October 1, 2016.

HARPS in New York City began implementing BH HCBS on January 1, 2016, three months after the mainstream Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) began covering non-HCBS behavioral health services. In the . . .