Report to Congress on the Evaluation of the Medicaid Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration

This report presents the initial steps taken to implement the demonstration and early evaluation results. It is based on limited preliminary information provided by participating states and IMDs, including (1) a review of state demonstration applications, operational plans, and quarterly reports, (2) information obtained through initial conversations with state demonstration and IMD staff, and (3) payment and monitoring data submitted by states during the first year of implementation. The legislation further mandates that the evaluation include a recommendation regarding whether the demonstration should be continued after December 31, 2013, and expanded on a national basis. Due to the timing of the implementation of the demonstration and the time required to plan and conduct the evaluation, we do not have enough data to recommend expanding the demonstration at this time; given the limited data, however, we recommend that the demonstration continue through the end of the current authorization, December 31, 2015, to allow a fuller evaluation of its effects.