CMS Approves Arkansas 1115 Medicaid Waiver To Cover Short-Term Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital Stays

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a new section 1115 demonstration for the State of Arkansas. “Arkansas Opportunities to Test Transition-Related Strategies to Support Community Reentry from Incarceration and Institutions for Mental Disease” will allow the state to receive federal financial participation (FFP) for Medicaid state plan services provided to adult beneficiaries who are in institutions for mental disease (IMD) for substance use disorder (SUD) or serious mental illness (SMI) treatment.  

The state’s goals in seeking the waiver include reducing emergency department visits and inpatient hospitalizations, and strengthening the continuum of care by ensuring that . . .