How Arizona Medicaid Accelerated the Integration of Physical and Behavioral Health Services.

ISSUE: In most states, one agency has responsibility for Medicaid enrollees' physical health services and at least one other agency has responsibility for their behavioral health services. Apportioning responsibility for the physical and behavioral health of Medicaid beneficiaries into different agencies inevitably leads to different--and sometimes misaligned--policy goals, program priorities, and purchasing strategies, thereby impeding the delivery of integrated care. GOAL: To describe the rationale, process, and impact of Arizona's 2015 consolidation of its physical and behavioral health services agencies into its Medicaid agency.