The Path From Behavioral Health Carve-Out To Integration

The past few years have seen the move of many payers and health plans to “integrating” behavioral health. Models that have separate, “carved out” behavioral health financing and delivery are being replaced by models that integrate all service financing and delivery in one managing entity.

What does this look like in Medicaid? As of January 2020, approximately 69% (50.2 million) of the 72.8 million individuals in Medicaid were enrolled in integrated behavioral health financing arrangements—a slight increase over 2019 when 64% were enrolled (see State Medicaid Behavioral Health Carve-Outs: The OPEN MINDS 2020 Annual Update). Additionally . . .