January 22, 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently hosted a behavioral health stakeholder call during which a new behavioral health care model, Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH), was announced.
As stated in CMS' IBH fact sheet, "IBH aims to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for people with moderate to severe behavioral health (BH) conditions, including mental health conditions and/or substance use disorders (SUDs)." Participants must be community-based behavioral health providers licensed by their state to deliver mental health and/or SUD services.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing expressed support, stating "The National Council and its members thank CMS for recognizing the need to integrate behavioral health care with primary care, and we look forward to working closely with CMS to ensure the success of the Innovation and Behavioral Health Model." In their statement, the National Council noted that "Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) are an obvious vehicle to provide these services."
CMS will release a Notice of Funding Opportunity in the spring and expects to grant awards to eight states. The model will launch in the fall of 2024 and will run for eight years.
Here is the CMS press release on the IBH model and here are other resources CMS has provided on the IBH Model: IBH webpage; Frequently Asked Questions about the Innovation in Behavioral Health Model; and IBH Fact Sheet.
