Weekly StateVitals Update: Volume 43 (October 27, 2025)

National

CMS Announces Second Round of Funding for the Innovation in Behavioral Health Model. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this past week that they were opening up a second round of funding under the Innovation in Behavioral Health model. The model is focused on improving quality of care and behavioral and physical health outcomes for adults enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare. Notably, as part of the model, specialty behavioral health practices will lead an interprofessional care team and be responsible for coordinating the care for a patient, which includes behavioral, physical and health-related social needs. The intended population is limited to those with moderate to severe mental health conditions and substance use disorder. The first round of funding was made available in 2024 and Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and South Carolina were the first round funding recipients. 

This second round of funding will include up to five state Medicaid agencies to participate in the model and will have a seven-year performance period. Up to $7.5 million in cooperative agreement award funding will be available to each recipient over the seven years. 

USDA Notifies States of Suspension of SNAP Benefits. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began notifying states that federal funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be issued for November. Already this past week, at least twenty-five states have notified recipients that November benefits are not to be expected if the shutdown continues into the end of October. While there is a SNAP contingency fund of $6 billion, November benefits are expected to cost $8 billion. As part of its technical assistance, the USDA is promoting practices and strategies to mitigate risk and reduce harm to enrollees. 

Kentucky

Interim Committee Hears Bill on Fluoride. This past week, the Interim Joint Committee on State Government held a hearing on HB 16 which is expected to be filed for the 2026 legislative session. The bill, which passed the House during the 2025 legislative session, would eliminate a state requirement that water producers must add fluoride to drinking water systems. The latest iteration of the measure, which has been introduced in previous years prior to 2025 would include liability protections for local water districts, which had been a reason for opposition by local water system operators in previous years. In eliminating the state requirement of fluoride addition to water, local governments would then have discretion as to whether to add it to their supplies or not. The committee took no action on the measure, but they will reconvene for another meeting on November 13, 2025. 

Massachusetts

House Committee Considers Prior Authorization Legislation. This past week, the House Committee on Financial Services reported H. 4616 favorably out of committee. The bill would require insurers to publish on their website a list of all items, services and medications that require prior authorization. The bill would also establish reporting requirements for insurers that must be sent to the state for review and require an insurer or utilization review organization to implement and maintain a prior authorization application programming interface (API) for automated processing of prior authorization requests. The bill was referred to the Committee on Health Care Financing for consideration next. 

Michigan

Court Authorizes Michigan to Proceed on Behavioral Health PIHP Bid. Recently, the Michigan’s Court of Claims issued a ruling allowing the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to proceed with a rebid of its prepaid inpatient health plans (PIHPs) which are intended to provide Medicaid recipients with coverage for inpatient hospital or institutional care for behavioral health services. As part of the rebid, DHHS is proposing to reduce the current 10 behavioral health regions to just three which would limit the opportunities plans would have to bid. Additionally, DHHS has received criticism from patient advocates contending that it may inadvertently reduce care quality through an assumption of administrative efficiency and could lead to full privatization of the industry. The decision allows DHHS to move forward with the rebid which they are expected to do in the near future. 

Wyoming

Interim Committee Considers Proposals to Address Shortage of Maternity Care Services. Recently, the interim Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee met to advance two proposals with the intent to address increasing shortages in maternal care services in the state. The interim committee identified the issue as its first priority in the upcoming legislative session and voted to introduce two bills when the Legislature reconvenes for its budget session in February. One bill is the Care Act and would prohibit state entities from adopting any law or rule that would specifically target pregnancy centers with additional oversight or enhanced regulation based on their stand against abortion. The second bill would authorize services provided by birthing centers as eligible for Medicaid reimbursement. In both cases, the bills will need a two-thirds majority to be introduced in February during the budget session.

For additional information and updates on state activity this past week relative to state COVID-19 vaccine guidance, StateVitals Subscribers can check out our guidance tracker.