MANCHESTER, NH– The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced Feb. 26 that it will be holding a series of public information sessions to present how New Hampshire will implement the $150 million waiver it received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to transform New Hampshire’s behavioral health delivery system.
The Manchester session will be held March 9 from 6-8 p.m. at City Hall, third-floor Aldermanic chambers.
“The opioid crisis and our strained behavioral health system are urgent challenges facing our State,” said DHHS Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers. “The demand for substance abuse and mental health and services is increasing and it is vital that New Hampshire leverage this opportunity to expand our capacity to address it and improve the care we provide. This waiver will enable us to begin to move resources out to providers this year so that we further our current efforts.”
Under the transformation waiver received by New Hampshire, CMS will provide the State with up to $30 million in funding each year for five years. The payments will go to networks of health care and social service providers
that will be formed across the State. Through these regional networks, New
Hampshire will transform its behavioral health delivery system by:
- Expanding provider capacity to address behavioral health needs;
- Integrating physical and behavioral health to better address the full range of beneficiaries’ needs;
- Reducing gaps in care during transitions – from treatment back into the community – through improved care coordination for individuals with behavioral health issues.
Beginning March 4, DHHS will hold nine public informational sessions
about the transformation waiver throughout the State at the dates,
locations and times listed on the state’s Department of Health and Human Services website.
