U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Oct. 19 introduced a bipartisan bill that would reestablish a program that several states rely on to provide substance use disorder treatment services for patients under Medicaid.
The legislation would establish a permanent state plan option in Medicaid that allows states to provide patients between the ages of 21 and 64 with substance use disorder treatment in institutions for mental disease (IMD), which include hospitals, nursing facilities, or other institutions with more than 16 beds that provide care for mental health diseases.
Current law does not allow federal Medicaid funds to be used for those patients at IMD, Sen. Thune’s office said.
Legislation that was enacted in 2018 to address the opioid epidemic, the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, included a state plan option that allowed federal Medicaid funds to be used for patients in IMD with substance use disorder. However, that option recently expired.
“As the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders continue to devastate families and communities across South Dakota and the country, it is critical for patients to have access to treatment services,” Sen. Thune said. “South Dakota has relied on a state plan option in Medicaid to provide these services for the past five years, and it is critical that patients do not lose access to this life-saving care.”
Sen. Thune sponsored the Securing Advances and a Variety of Evidence-Based IMD Options Act, S. 3098, along with original cosponsors Sen. Blackburn and U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). The bill, if enacted into law, would amend the Social Security Act to make permanent the Medicaid option to remove the IMD exclusion to provide medical assistance for certain individuals who are patients in an institution for mental diseases, according to the text of the bill.
“Since 2021, Tennessee has leveraged the Institutions for Mental Diseases state option to deliver critical treatment and support to individuals suffering from substance use disorders,” Sen. Blackburn said. “Making this state option permanent and breaking down barriers to comprehensive care would be a major step in the right direction as we address substance use disorders across our nation.”