Minnesota asks Medicaid to pay for more drug treatment

The state of Minnesota is trying to expand the number of drug treatment programs and services that can be paid for using Medicaid funds.

If approved, the waiver would give people on Medicaid more treatment options, including early intervention programs and longer-term residential treatment, said Claire Wilson, assistant commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

"This will mean that Minnesota would continue to move the needle on treating addiction like the chronic disease it is," Wilson said. "It really allows us to provide a strengthened behavioral care system that maximizes federal funding."

President Donald Trump said last October that he'd inform the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to grant a waiver of the so-called 16-bed rule for Medicaid funds, which restricted funding for larger residential treatment facilities.

The waiver, which would be valid for five years, was submitted earlier this month and state officials hope it will be approved sometime this summer. The state is asking for treatment programs to apply to become part of the program.

The waiver would also promote collaboration between different health organizations that offer different services, said Jin Lee Palen, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs.

"We are really trying to do our very best to address the increased demand and the need for services in a lot of these areas," Palen said. "One of the biggest things it does, is that it's building out the networks and partnerships between all of our different community providers."

The waiver request is yet another step by the state government to try to address the opioid overdose epidemic. At least 401 people died in Minnesota last year after experiencing opioid overdoses, according to preliminary numbers from the state.