DeWine signs Executive Order allowing emergency rule changes as part of Ohio’s “Behavioral Health Redesign”

On July 30, 2019, Governor Mike DeWine signed Executive Order 2019-19D, under which the governor utilized his power to suspend the normal administrative rule-making process upon the request of a state administrative agency when an emergency exists that requires the “immediate adoption, amendment or rescission” of certain administrative rules. The Executive Order allows rules to be adopted immediately, but on a short-term basis, while more permanent rule changes are formulated and approved.

The Executive Order says that the rule changes by the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), which went into effect on August 1, change policy and payment rates to “stabilize Ohio’s behavioral health services system and support individuals’ ability to access services….” The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS), in collaboration with ODM and other behavioral health stakeholders, have been working since January 1, 2019, to improve Ohio’s system of behavioral health care following the package of numerous payment and benefit changes that were approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on January 1, 2018, as part of Ohio’s “Behavioral Health Redesign.”

Additional changes and rule modifications as part of the implementation will likely be coming from ODM over the next several months.