CMS awards grants for Medicaid project to increase SUD treatment

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week awarded 14 states and the District of Columbia planning grants totaling $48.5 million to increase access to evidence-based treatment and recovery services for Medicaid patients with substance use disorders. Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia will use the grants to assess state needs, recruit and train providers, and improve reimbursement to expand treatment capacity. Section 1003 of the Substance-Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act of 2018 authorized the planning grants for a demonstration project to increase Medicaid provider capacity to treat SUDs. CMS will select up to five of the states to receive an enhanced federal matching rate for SUD services for three years under the project.