03/20/2020

Medicaid emergency rules executed to expand and enhance telehealth for Ohioans

Emergency Rules Executed to Expand and Enhance Telehealth for Ohioans

The Ohio Departments of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) and Medicaid (ODM), in partnership with the Governor’s Office, have executed emergency rules to expand and enhance telehealth options for Ohioans and their providers. These rules will relax regulations so that more people can be served safely in their homes rather than needing to travel to addiction and mental health treatment centers. This is a regulatory change that we are collectively rolling out to help reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19 for patients, their families, and our behavioral health workforce which is an important part of the emergent response and community support to COVID-19. Click HERE to view Executive Order 2020-05D, HERE to view OAC Rules for OhioMHAS, and HERE to view OAC Rules for ODM. Click HERE to view the MIT BITS.

For questions related to changes to OhioMHAS interactive videoconferencing policy as well as questions related to clinical and technical implementation of telehealth, please email COVID19BHTelehealth@mha.ohio.gov. OhioMHAS will also be providing training and technical assistance on the clinical and technical implementation of telehealth.  Additional information will be forthcoming. In addition, resources related to telehealth may be found HERE.

Questions about Medicaid coverage, billing, and reimbursement under the new policy can be submitted to BH-Enroll@medicaid.ohio.gov. ODM and OhioMHAS staff will offer training and technical assistance related to the rules via webinar to any interested parties. Additional information on the webinar will be forthcoming.