Assessing Changes to Medicaid Managed Care Regulations: Facilitating Integration of Physical and Behavioral Health Care.

Issue: As states consider how to effectively control Medicaid costs, many are looking to integrate behavioral and medical care, including long-term services and supports, particularly for individuals with complex needs. Goal: To summarize how recent federal regulations are encouraging an integrated approach to behavioral and physical health care. Findings and Conclusions: Two recent federal rules issued in 2016 are facilitating the transition to integrated care models: the Medicaid managed care rule and the Medicaid managed care mental health parity rule. These changes may not spell the end of fragmented systems, but they certainly do not support a status quo approach to care. While the regulations do not specifically address integrated care, they should facilitate and, in some instances, encourage, state movement to integrated care for Medicaid participants.