The Medical Care Advisory Committee’s (MCAC) role is to advise the Division of Medicaid about health and medical care services. This Friday, December 10 at 1 PM the MCAC will meet and as part of its agenda its members will be discussing Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), and how the implementation of CCBHCs in Mississippi might affect or improve behavioral health services for people.
What are CCBHCs? Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics are designed to provide complete mental health and substance use disorder services to vulnerable individuals. They receive enhanced Medicaid reimbursement based on their anticipated costs of expanding services to meet the needs of individuals. CCBHCs are usually non-profit organizations or units of a local government behavioral health authority. They must provide (or contract with another provider) nine specific types of services, and they emphasize the provision of 24-hour crisis care, evidence-based practices, care coordination with local primary care and hospital partners, and integration with physical health care.
Originally funded as an eight-state Medicaid demonstration program, in 2020 Congress expanded the CCBHC program to include additional states. There are now more than 430 CCBHCs operating in 40 states. Many states are moving to implement the CCBHC model – similar to other value-based or alternative payment models – independently via a state plan amendment or Medicaid waiver.
By federal law, Medical Advisory Committee membership must include (1) Board-certified physicians and other representatives of the health professions who are familiar with the medical needs of low-income population groups; (2) Members of consumers’ groups, including Medicaid beneficiaries, and consumer organizations; and (3) The director of the public welfare department or the public health department, whichever does not head the Medicaid agency.
While the meeting is open to the public it is not available to be viewed online. The committee meets in the Woolfolk Building – Conference Room 145, 501 North West Street, Jackson, MS 39201.
For more information on Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics click here.
You may wish to attend this webinar Wednesday, December 8 at noon to learn more about Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics:
The Impact of CCBHCs: How the CCBHC Model is Transforming Patient Care and Staff Training
[photo by Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – Jackson, Mississippi 40 (1)Uploaded by xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 2.0]
