CMS Approves D.C. Waiver For Substance Use, Mental Illness Treatment

CMS announced Wednesday (Nov. 6) that it approved a waiver to allow District of Columbia to sidestep a restriction on using Medicaid dollars to fund inpatient treatment for substance use and mental illness. The waiver is the first time CMS approved a waiver to use Medicaid funding for the treatment of serious mental illness in conjunction with substance use treatment. The Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion bars Medicaid from funding patients’ stays in mental institutions with more than 16...