Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

This report provides a review of available information on self-directed care (SDC) programs in mental health care settings and discusses potential policy implications of large-scale implementation of SDC programs serving persons with serious mental illness.

Jonathan D. Brown, Allison Barrett, Henry Ireys, Emily Caffery, and Kerianne Hourihan Mathematica Policy Research April 9, 2012  

As the largest payer of mental health services in the United States, Medicaid programs have an opportunity to promote high-quality care for serious and persistent mental illnesses (SPMI) through the use of reimbursement strategies and policies that encourage the delivery of evidence-based practices (EBPs).

Current disability policy provides support for people with a mental illness once they are no longer able to work and thus qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

This Handbook is designed to improve understanding and provide greater clarity concerning Medicaid's contribution in supporting working-age adults with serious mental illnesses in the community.

This report examines the issues involved in seeking to address the long-term care service needs of persons with severe mental illness (SMI) in a generic long-term care financing and service delivery system, as was proposed in the home and community-based services provisions of the Health Security Act.