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Panel hears bill to add collaborative-care mental-health benefit to Medicaid
Summary
Senate File 8 would make the collaborative-care model a reimbursable Medicaid benefit in Minnesota, proponents said the model is evidence-based, reduces total cost of care and improves access in primary care settings; the committee adopted an author's amendment and laid the bill over for further work and fiscal review.
Senator Bolden presented Senate File 8 to establish collaborative care as a reimbursable Medicaid service and to provide start-up grants and training funds to clinics adopting the model.
The collaborative-care model embeds behavioral health care managers and psychiatric consultation within primary care to treat common mental health conditions in an integrated team. Proponents said the model is broadly evidence-based and cost-effective. Frank Jadwin, a clinical social worker with Hennepin Healthcare’s integrated behavioral health effort, described randomized clinical trials demonstrating effectiveness and noted that nearly all major payers reimburse collaborative care codes. “The collaborative care model is a team-based approach that integrates behavioral health services…into primary care settings,” Jadwin said.
Dr. Tyler Winkelman, a primary-care physician at Hennepin Healthcare who directs general internal medicine, described local implementation and preliminary results from his system’s grant-funded rollout, citing studies that show reductions in total cost of care and lower emergency and inpatient utilization. “It decreases total cost of care by 13% according to a very impressive study out of Kaiser Permanente,” he said, and added that broader implementation could strengthen both rural and urban primary-care capacity.
Dr. Kyle Darnell, CentraCare’s executive director for behavioral health, highlighted workforce shortages for psychiatrists in Minnesota and argued collaborative care is essential to extend psychiatric expertise across communities. Witnesses asked the committee to adopt the approach statewide and to appropriate start-up support; the committee adopted an author’s amendment and requested a fiscal note to quantify costs and savings at scale. Senate File 8, as amended, was laid over for further consideration.
Ending: Advocates said collaborative care would expand access in primary care settings, reduce emergency use and support workforce retention; DHS will produce a fiscal note to guide next steps.
