Headline
Maryland’s Medicaid Behavioral Health Home (BHH) program increases mental health outpatient visits for adults with serious mental illness.
Background
Maryland’s Medicaid Behavioral Health Home (BHH) program, established through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid health home waiver, connects eligible individuals with SMI with care coordination and transitional care services following hospitalization. This study examines whether BHH enrollment also affects the use of outpatient mental health services.
Findings
This study compared Medicaid claims data for over 3,300 people with SMI enrolled in a BHH to more than 8,900 individuals with SMI who were not enrolled. Controlling for clinical and demographic characteristics, BHH program participants used approximately three additional outpatient mental health visits annually compared to non-participants.
Policy/Program Takeaways
Although the primary intent of Maryland’s BHH program is to improve coordination of physical health care for program participants, these findings indicate that increased access to outpatient mental health care may be an additional benefit of the program.