CONCORD — The Sununu administration is asking federal authorities for a waiver to permit those on Medicaid with severe mental illness to be covered for short-term residential treatment.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette said this request would help the state deal with the rising number of children and adults waiting in hospital emergency rooms for a treatment bed.
“This amendment gives New Hampshire the opportunity to transform delivery and access to mental health services and make a real difference in the lives of thousands of Granite Staters experiencing mental health crises,” Shibinette said.
Currently, the federal Medicaid program provides coverage for eligible adults who are given a mental-health treatment bed for an extended period of time.
Shibinette has said much of those waiting in emergency rooms for a bed need care for a short-term period, and that’s what this waiver would provide.
In response to the opioid epidemic, the Sununu administration asked for and got in 2018 a similar waiver for Medicaid to cover short-term treatment for substance abuse, Shibinette said.
If approved, state officials said it will provide Medicaid coverage for $10 million of services; the state and federal government equally share Medicaid costs in New Hampshire.
In 2020, the state provided mental health services to 12,420 youths and 28,196 adults.
Would apply to 51% of adult services
Among that adult population who were served, 51% of them had “severe mental illness” that would make them eligible for this coverage, according to state officials.
The main sources of mental-health treatment in the state are the state-run New Hampshire Hospital with 187 beds and the Glencliff Home for the Elderly with 115 beds.
Privately-run Hampstead Hospital has 76 mental health treatment beds for youths.
Since the emergency boarding room crisis spiked last year, state officials have taken several steps to increase capacity in the mental-health system.
The request seeks this coverage to be granted starting July 1, 2022.
HHS has begun a 30-day period for public comment on the request.
There will be two public hearings on the proposal.
The first is next Monday from 5:30-7 p.m. at the HHS Brown Building Auditorium in Concord, and the second is Aug. 11 from 6-7:30 p.m. at Harbor Homes in Nashua.
