House Health Care reviews S36 language on Medicaid payment, public-inebriate beds as Howard Center describes program closures

House Health Care committee members heard a briefing on S36 and related provisions that would change Medicaid coverage rules for residential substance use disorder treatment and would repeal a statutory ban that has previously prevented holding people who are publicly intoxicated in correctional settings.

Katie McClanahan, Legislative Counsel, told the committee the bill before them was “the as passed Senate version,” and described three clusters of provisions: two sections that would require Medicaid coverage for medically necessary high- and low-intensity residential treatment when prescribed by a licensed health professional and provided by a Medicaid-participating residential program; a third section requiring AHS to review the Medicaid payment model for residential substance use disorder services and report recommendations to the House Committee on Human Services and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare by December 1, 2025; and two sections that would repeal a statutory prohibition on holding people in correctional facilities when they are intoxicated, preserving the current practice if community alternatives do not exist.

The nut graf: The briefing focused on how state policy and Medicaid payment rules intersect with the availability of secure noncarceral alternatives for people who are intoxicated and on operational limits facing existing programs. Provisions in S36 would direct AHS to align Medicaid payments with…