Support for this article was provided by the State Health and Value Strategies program, a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

As previewed in a June 2024 Center for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Services Informational Bulletin, on September 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new collection of federal Medicaid and CHIP reporting templates designed to assist states in monitoring Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) compliance in Medicaid and CHIP. Informal public comment is requested by December 2, 2024.

A new expert perspective by Manatt Health Senior Advisors Zoe Barnard and Tara Straw discusses the importance of MHPAEA compliance in Medicaid and CHIP, as well as its relevancy to health equity issues, with the programs together making up the single largest source of coverage and funding for mental health and providing an increasing share of spending for SUD services in the country. CMS is seeking comment on the templates and their instructional guides through a series of questions asking about their completeness, clarity, ease of use, structure and risks.

To read the full expert perspective, click here.