CMS will award 18-month planning grants totaling $50 million to at least 10 state Medicaid agencies for proposals that increase the capacity of substance use disorder treatment and recovery services, particularly those that address opioid use.
"CMS is pulling every lever to combat the opioid epidemic and increasing access to treatments for Americans suffering from substance use disorder is essential to addressing this issue," Kimberly Brandt, CMS' principal deputy administrator for policy and operations, said in a press release.
States must apply by Aug. 9. CMS plans to select proposals for an 18-month planning phase. When this 18-month period is over, the agency will choose five states to continue in a 36-month demonstration project.
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