Executive Summary
California is currently undergoing efforts to align coverage of behavioral health services in Medi-Cal (the State’s Medicaid program) with coverage in private plans. To inform those efforts, this resource compares mental health and substance use disorder coverage requirements imposed, in state and federal law, on Medi-Cal with coverage requirements for private plans. In addition, the paper makes several recommendations to strengthen access to medically necessary behavioral health services in the different systems.
