Colorado was granted a Pre-Testing Award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop a model for integrating primary care and behavioral health, and sustaining it through outcomes-based payments. The goal is for 80 percent of Coloradans to have access to coordinated systems of care that provide integrated behavioral health care in primary care settings by 2019. In December of 2014, (CMMI) awarded Colorado with $65 million over 48 months in State Innovation Model (SIM) funding to implement its State Health Innovation Plan.
Colorado's focus on integrating behavioral health into primary care is just the starting point to achieve the ultimate vision of its State Health Innovation (SIM) Plan through the creation of comprehensive, person-centered, coordinated systems of care that include physical and behavioral health, public health, oral health and long-term services and supports. Using the foundation of integrated primary and behavioral health, they plan to create coordinated systems of care supported by value-based, outcomes-based payment arrangements that reflect the total cost of care across the patient care spectrum.
Colorado SIM programs include initiatives for patient-centered medical homes, pilots that integrate primary and behavioral health, and participation in non-fee-for-service payment models.
Six health insurers and the state's Medicaid program have committed to adopt delivery and payment reforms deisgned to integrate behavioral and physical healthcare. These payers include: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Colorado Access, Colorado Choice Health Plans, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, and UnitedHealthcare.
