Collaborate in an Orderly and Cohesive Manner Act

Collaborate in an Orderly and Cohesive Manner Act

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants for implementing and evaluating specified models of care that integrate the delivery of behavioral health and primary care services.

Specifically, HHS must award grants to primary care providers for the initial costs (e.g., hiring staff) of implementing such models. In awarding the grants, HHS must prioritize recipients that provide care to medically underserved populations and in areas where the prevalence of behavioral health conditions exceeds the national average. HHS must also provide additional incentive payments to recipients that use appropriate billing codes and quality measures for behavioral health services.

In addition, HHS must award grants to national and regional organizations for providing technical assistance to health care providers and systems to improve implementation of integrated behavioral health and primary care models.

Furthermore, HHS may direct its agencies to expand efforts to evaluate current and emerging integrated behavioral health and primary care models.