This bill, the Increasing Behavioral Health Treatment Act, would change Medicaid rules in the Social Security Act so Medicaid can pay for items and services provided to patients in an "institution for mental diseases" (IMD). The bill removes the exclusion in current law that limited Medicaid payment for IMD care and also strikes language that limited certain provisions to people 65 and older. It would require State Medicaid plans to submit and annually update plans to increase outpatient and community-based behavioral health care for people served in IMDs, especially those transitioning back to the community. The plans must address crisis stabilization services (for example, crisis call centers, mobile crisis units, coordinated crisis response with first responders, observation or assessment centers, and on-going community services like intensive outpatient treatment and assertive community treatment), improved data sharing and coordination among physical health, mental health, addiction treatment providers, and first responders, and state strategies for screening and engaging people with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or substance use disorder crises.
The bill also requires States to demonstrate screening and capacity to address co-occurring physical health conditions and substance use disorders in psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment settings; demonstrate strategies for identifying and engaging adolescents and young adults with serious behavioral health needs; and show utilization review policies that ensure treatment is at clinically appropriate levels of care and generally in the least restrictive setting. States must report annually to the Secretary aggregated and facility-level costs and utilization for IMDs and other inpatient psychiatric hospitals, the number of individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or substance use disorder crises who received Medicaid during the year, lengths of stay in IMDs, and the type of outpatient treatment (including medication-assisted treatment) received after discharge. The bill takes effect on enactment for State plans but gives States extra time if the State legislature must pass new law to comply.
Sponsor and status: Introduced June 17, 2025, sponsored by Representatives Salud Carbajal, Don Bacon, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Levin, Julia Brownley, Nanette Barragán, Jared Golden, and Brendan Boyle. Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
No publicly available information on expected federal or state costs or savings is included in the bill text or the provided metadata.
No publicly available information on proponents' statements or formal legislative findings is included in the bill text or the provided metadata.
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