November 2007

Administration of Mental Health Services by Medicaid Agencies

Findings from the report indicate that states have taken varying approaches to administer Medicaid mental health services. Some states have chosen to have the Medicaid agency retain full administrative responsibility for all mental health services if they are funded with Medicaid dollars and provided to Medicaid enrollees. Other States have chosen to share those responsibilities in different ways with mental health or other agencies in the state. Findings from the report include:

• State Medicaid and mental health agencies are within the same umbrella agency in 28 States, most commonly health and human services, and are separate in 23 States.
   

• 40 States reported that their Medicaid agencies produce formal reports containing discrete data on Medicaid mental health utilization or expenditures, and in 27 States the mental health agency produces such reports.
   

• More than half of the Medicaid respondents said that Medicaid and mental health agencies collaborate frequently through internal and external meetings, public reports, or presentations to the legislature.