The federal government has chosen Montana to be one of 15 states that will have a chance to receive enhanced funding for behavioral health providers. The change could significantly increase access to mental health care.
Montana was awarded $1 million to help the state get clinics ready for a new federal program to expand behavioral health services.
The Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) will be required to offer a full range of services, from crisis care to preventative mental health care for children.
Currently, mental and behavioral health clinics tend to offer select services because reimbursement levels aren’t covering the cost of care. Mary Windecker with the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana spoke on the matter.
“In many of the areas, we have 10-hour crisis response teams and they only work 10 hours a day because there’s not enough money to cover them for 24/7. This model would cover those crisis response teams for 24/7 at the full cost of delivering that care,” Windecker said.
Montana and the other states selected for the initial round of funding will have to compete for 10 slots in a pilot program to provide the enhanced funding for providers.
In a press release, state health officials said they hope that in a year they’ll have providers ready to prove they can take on the workload and participate in the pilot program.
