Author: Sam Fish | Posted: 16. March 2012 04:34
On Tuesday, March 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a demonstration project that will test whether paying private psychiatric hospitals to provide emergency psychiatric treatment to Medicaid patients will enable the beneficiaries to get more timely and appropriate care. Currently, federal Medicaid law does not allow payment to private psychiatric hospitals because of historical concerns that states would warehouse those patients in large facilities. CMS will provide up to $75 million under the demonstration program, funded by the Affordable Care Act, to the following 11 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
