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Publicly Funded Codes for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

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Topics: Health Care Reform | Medicaid | Medicare | Mental Health | Prevention | Providers | Rates/Reimbursement | Substance Abuse

Prior to regulations promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services to implement the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), substance abuse and mental health procedure codes were largely, but not exclusively, developed locally and reflected the uniqueness of local health care delivery.  With the implementation of HIPAA standards, certain enumerated transaction electronically transmitted by covered entities (health insurers, health care clearinghouses and health care providers that engage in electronic transactions) should be conducted using national, uniform standards. The regulations adopted the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition (ICD-9), the Current Procedural Terminology, 4th Edition (CPT-4), the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature (CDT), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), and the National Drug Codes. These national, uniform procedure codes are used to bill for the delivery of all health care services.

Relevant documents include:

HIPAA Background Information: BackgroundInformationHIPAA.pdf (PDF | 38.86 kb)

Background for States' Billing Codes for Mental Health Services, Publicly Funded: BackgroundofHCPCScoding.pdf (PDF | 51.60 kb)

Example of States' Billing Codes for Mental Health Services, Publicly Funded: ExamplesofStatesBillingCodesforMentalHealthServicesPubliclyFunded.pdf (PDF | 404.26 kb)

State by State List of Medicaid Codes Used to Reimburse for Mental Health Services: Most Frequently Used Codes to Bill For Mental Health Services.pdf (PDF | 23.92 kb)

Mental Health Codes and Payers: TableofMentalHealthCodesandPayers.pdf (PDF | 45.19 kb)

Approved HCPCS and CPT Codes and Modifiers Relating to Substance Abuse Treatment, Mental Health and Behavioral Health: APPROVEDHCPCSANDCPTCODESMODIFIERSSAnumericlisting2005.pdf (PDF | 188.71 kb)

Approved HCPCS Codes and Modifiers Relating to Substance Abuse Treatment, Mental health and Behavioral Health: APPROVEDHCPCSCODESMODIFIERS-SA2005.pdf (PDF | 248.87 kb)

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2007). Examples of states' billing codes for mental health services, publicly funded. Smith, S.

Other helpful articles:

Dorfman, S. and Smith, S. (2002). Preventive mental health and substance abuse programs and services in managed care (PDF | 978.26 KB). Journal of Behavioral Health Services Research, 29(3): 233-258.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2004). Clinical preventive services in substance abuse and mental health update: from sciences to services (PDF | 975.43 KB) Nitzkin, J.L. and Smith, S.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2008). Reimbursement of mental health services in primary care settings (PDF | 1.64 MB). Mauch, D., Kautz, C. and Smith, S.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2007). Promotion and prevention in mental health: strengthening parenting and enhancing child resilience (PDF | 1.34 MB). Center for Mental Health Services.

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2001). Estimating the cost of preventive services in mental health and substance abuse under managed care (PDF | 1.19 MB). Broskowski, A. and Smith, S.

 


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