March 23, 2021
Congress passed the HR 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and it did include funding for mental health and substance use disorder services as well as home and community based services. Some of the largest allocations for BH/IDD in the American Rescue Plan include:
• $1,500,000,000 in funding for block grants for community mental health services.
• $1,500,000,000 in funding for block grants for prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.
• $12,670,000,000 in Home and Community Based Services funding through a FMAP increase of 10% from 4/1/21 to 3/31/22.
• $80,000,000 in funding for mental and behavioral health training for health care professions, paraprofessionals, and public safety officers.
• $20,000,000 in funding for education and awareness campaign encouraging healthy work conditions and use of mental and behavioral health services by health care professionals.
• $40,000,000 in funding for grants for health care providers to promote mental and behavioral health among their health professional workforce.
• $50,000,000 in funding for community-based funding for local behavioral health needs.
• $100,000,000 in funding for behavioral health workforce education and training.
• $80,000,000 in funding for pediatric mental health care access.
• $420,000,000 in funding for expansion grants for certified community behavioral health clinics.
The legislation also includes an incentive for states like North Carolina that have not yet expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. In addition to the 90% federal matching funds available for the expansion population, North Carolina could also receive a 5 percentage point increase in their regular federal matching rate for 2 years after expansion takes effect. The additional incentive applies whenever a state newly expands Medicaid and does not expire.
This legislation was signed into law by President Biden on March 11th.