CMS To Allow State Medicaid Plans To Cover Residential Addiction Treatment

The Substance Use Disorder Prevention That Promotes Opioid Recovery & Treatment For Patients & Communities Act (SUPPORT Act) signed into law on October 24, 2018, includes a provision that directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to end the Medicaid exclusion on addiction treatment at institutions for mental disease (IMD). Starting in federal fiscal year 2019, state Medicaid programs will have the option under a state plan amendment (SPA) to cover care in certain IMDs for beneficiaries ages 21 to 64 with addiction disorder through 2023. An IMD is a facility with 16 or more beds that primarily . . .