Lt. Gov. Calley: Michigan's first opioid 'health home' recovery program launched in Northern Michigan

Statement

To further combat the opioid epidemic, Michigan has launched its first health home program focused on addiction recovery after recently receiving federal approval, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley announced today.

"Addiction is a health care issue so it's critical that we treat it that way in order to truly address the opioid epidemic that is sweeping our nation," Calley said. "We need to utilize every resource available to help Michiganders who are suffering and I'm pleased that Michigan received federal approval to launch the opioid health home in Northern Michigan for residents on Medicaid."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services gave the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services approval to implement the state's first Opioid Health Home, serving Michigan's northern most 21 counties in the lower peninsula. A health home is model of integrated care delivery for Medicaid beneficiaries that coordinates health and social services that are typically not eligible for Medicaid reimbursement.

Michigan's opioid health home will provide comprehensive care management and coordination services to Medicaid beneficiaries with opioid use disorder who also have or are at risk of developing another chronic condition. For enrolled beneficiaries, it will function as the central point of contact for directing their care across the broader health care system. Beneficiaries will work with an interdisciplinary team of providers to develop an individualized recovery care plan to best manage their care.

"The northern lower Michigan region is disproportionately burdened by the opioid epidemic, which is compounded by its massive geography and provider shortages," said Dr. George Mellos, senior deputy director of MDHHS' Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Administration. "The opioid health home will bring critical recovery-centered resources to Medicaid beneficiaries struggling with opioid use disorder by ensuring seamless transitions of care and connecting eligible beneficiaries with needed clinical and social services."

MDHHS is partnering with the Northern Michigan Regional Entity PIHP and qualified Opioid Treatment Programs and Office Based Opioid Treatment Providers in the region.

The overarching objectives of the opioid health home are to:

Improve care management of beneficiaries with opioid use disorders and comorbid chronic conditions, including Medication Assisted Treatment.
Improve care coordination between physical and behavioral health care services.
Improve care transitions between primary, specialty and inpatient settings of care.
The opioid health home officially launched on October 1. MDHHS estimates that 3,000 Medicaid Beneficiaries in this region qualify to participate in this program. The federal approval provides a 90 percent federal fund match for each state dollar allocated to the opioid health home over the next two years.

For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/ohh.

Source