Supporting Physical-Behavioral Health Integration Using Medicaid Managed Care Organizations

This paper describes key findings of two states that sought to integrate physical and behavioral health services by delivering them through one Medicaid managed care contract. The purpose was to explore how managed care organizations (MCOs) could improve physical and behavioral health integration. Promising practices include leveraging data accumulated by MCOs about beneficiaries to support providers and enhanced case management, encouraging MCOs to pay providers for care coordination and care collocation, and offering protections to providers and beneficiaries. Finally, in the absence of a shared vision among key stakeholders regarding how to best promote integrated care, a state can make progress by promoting stakeholder innovation.