This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create guidance for states on how to expand the mental health and substance use disorder workforce through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Within 12 months of enactment, the federal government must issue non-mandatory recommendations to states on strategies for educating, training, recruiting, and retaining behavioral health providers who serve Medicaid and CHIP patients, with special emphasis on reaching rural and underserved areas. The guidance will explain how states can use available federal authorities and waivers under Medicaid and CHIP law to implement these workforce-building strategies. The bill does not appropriate any specific funding and does not mandate that states follow the federal guidance—it simply directs the creation of advisory recommendations to help address shortages in behavioral health care providers.
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