Medicare Catches Up
Medicare is catching up to other payers and will soon be reimbursing for intensive outpatient services (IOP) for behavioral health. Currently, the Medicare program covers inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations, partial hospitalization programs (PHP), and outpatient therapeutic services. This new rule fills the gap for beneficiaries who require services more intensive than individual outpatient therapy visits but less intensive than PHP services (see CMS Proposes Establishing Medicare Coverage Of Intensive Outpatient Programs In Various Settings).
IOP services can be provided by hospital outpatient departments, community mental health centers (CMHCs), federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and rural health clinics. The Centers for Medicare . . .
