Use of Telehealth to Provide Behavioral Health Services in Medicaid Managed Care

Telehealth generally involves the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to provide access to health assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, supervision, and information across distance. States have significant flexibility to provide telehealth services, and all 50 States and the District of Columbia currently provide some Medicaid coverage of telehealth; however, limited information is available about how States use telehealth to provide behavioral health services to Medicaid enrollees. This review will describe: (1) the challenges that States face using telehealth to provide behavioral health services to Medicaid enrollees and (2) the extent to which States assess the effects of telehealth on access, cost, and quality and monitor telehealth to provide behavioral health services. We collected data for these products prior to States' expanding telehealth in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, this information continues to be valuable in future decisions to strengthen telehealth on a more permanent basis.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
February 2021	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Use of Telehealth to Provide Behavioral Health Services in Medicaid Managed Care	Office of Evaluation and Inspections	OEI-02-19-00400, OEI-02-19-00401	2022