Medicaid Managed Care: Four States' Experiences With Mental Health Carveout Programs

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how states design and monitor Medicaid mental health programs, and how, at the federal level, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) exercises its oversight of the Medicaid program, focusing on: (1) the extent of beneficiary choice in capitated mental health carveouts, the range of covered mental health services, and access to these services; (2) the states' approaches to monitoring the quality of care in their Medicaid mental health carveouts; and (3) HCFA's oversight of states' mental health carveouts.