Sneak Preview: Joint Guidance Issued on SUD Program Flexibilities
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants 360 article.) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services recently issued joint guidance discussing federal funding waivers and flexibilities that states can request to help provide family-focused residential treatment programs (FFRTPs) for substance use disorders (SUD) under Medicaid and the title IV-E foster care program.
The guidance also discusses how states can better coordinate multiple federal funding streams to support placing children with their parents in residential treatment programs. The agencies were required to issue the guidance under section 8801 of the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act (Pub. L. 115-271).
The act defines a “family-focused residential treatment program” as a “trauma-informed residential program primarily for SUD treatment for pregnant and postpartum women and parents and guardians that allows children to reside with such women or their parents or guardians during treatment to the extent appropriate and applicable.”
The guidance explains that there are existing opportunities and flexibilities under the Medicaid program, including waivers authorized under section 1115 or 1915 of the Social Security Act, for states to receive federal Medicaid funding to support the provision of SUD treatment for FFRTPs. Section 1115 demonstrations allow states to test innovative policy and delivery approaches that promote the objectives of the Medicaid program.
Medicaid payment is generally not available for services provided to individuals’ ages 21 through 64 who are patients in residential and inpatient treatment facilities that qualify as institutions for mental diseases (IMDs). An IMD is defined as a “hospital, nursing facility or other institution of more than 16 beds that is primarily engaged in providing diagnosis, treatment or care of persons with mental diseases, including medical attention, nursing care and related services.” CMS policy requires state Medicaid agencies to review facilities that have more than 16 beds, including FFRTPs that provide diagnosis, treatment or care of persons with mental diseases, to determine if the facility meets the definition of an IMD according to Medicaid statute, regulation and guidance.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
Join us for our following Federal Grants Forums:
2020 Revisions to Indirect Cost Provisions Workshop| November 23, 2020
Revised Uniform Guidance Town Hall | December 1, 2020
