The CMS Innovation Center https://innovation.cms gov announced a new model to address the impact of the opioid crisis for children. The model is going to focus on children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) who have physical and behavioral health needs, which can include substance use.
The Innovation Center has produced a new payment and service delivery model as part of a strategy to combat the opioid crisis. Called the “Integrated Care for Kids” (InCK), aims to reduce expenditures and improve the quality of care for children under 21 years of age. InCK covered by Medicaid and CHIP, is going to promote prevention, early identification, and treatment for behavioral and physical health needs.
The model is going to empower states and local providers to address these needs through care integration across all types of healthcare providers. The InCK Model is going to help state Medicaid agencies and their local health and community-based partners identify and address risk factors for behavioral health conditions. The plan is to especially look at early signs of a problem that may present outside of clinical settings such as in schools or at home.
State Medicaid Agencies are going to utilize data by providing population level data for the geographic services areas, support the development of information sharing arrangements, provide support across child focused state agencies, and develop the pediatric Alternative Payment Model (APM).
The CMS Innovation Center plans on releasing a detailed Notice of Funding Opportunity Fall 2018, with additional details on how state Medicaid agencies and local health and community-based organizations can apply to participate in the model. CMS intends to award funding for up to eight states at a maximum of $16 million each as early as spring 2019.
Go to https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/integrated-care-for-kids-model for more information on the InCK Model.