Behavioral Health Integration Incentive Program Application
UPDATE 4/2/2020: COVID-19 IMPACT TO TIMELINE
On Thursday, March 19, 2020, Governor Newsom ordered all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence, except as needed to maintain continuity of essential services and operations. In light of these circumstances, DHCS is deferring the start date of the BHI program. The BHI implementation date is deferred to July 1, 2020 with BHI determination letters being issued no later than June 1, 2020. BHI program years will be adjusted to reflect the new program period which will be PY1 July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020; PY2 January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021; and PY3 January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. Additionally, PY1 funding requests will be adjusted to reflect the change in the PY 1 program period. Please refer to the following table for updates to the timeline:
REVISED BHI Timeline:
| Step | Original Date | New Date |
| 1. DHCS releases BHI Incentive Program Request for Applications | November 12, 2019 | No Change |
| 2. DHCS conducts webinar | November 22, 2019 | No Change |
| 3. BHI Incentive Program applications due to the MCPs | January 21, 2020 | No Change |
| 4. MCPs review applications based on the standardized scoring tool | February 18, 2020 | No Change |
| 5. DHCS provides MCPs final determination letters | March 18, 2020 | June 1, 2020 |
| 6. BHI Incentive Program start date | April 1, 2020 | July 1, 2020 |
| 7. BHI Incentive Program operations duration | April 1, 2020 – December 31, 2022 | PY 1: July 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 PY 2: January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021 PY 3: January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022 |
The objective of the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) Incentive Program is to incentivize improvement of physical and behavioral health outcomes, care delivery efficiency, and patient experience by establishing or expanding fully integrated care in a Medi-Cal managed health care plan's (MCP) network. DHCS has collaborated with our MCPs to roll out a standard, statewide BHI Incentive Program application.
In order to apply, providers must complete and sign the below application and submit it directly to their local MCP no later than 5 p.m. PT on January 21, 2020. The MCP contact list is linked at the bottom of this page. Providers should not send the application to DHCS. Prior to completing this application, it is strongly suggested that applicants carefully review the entire application and other supporting documents that are available at this web site, and consult with their local MCP. If the provider is awarded BHI funding by the MCP, the selected MCP will be responsible for oversight and payment to the provider for meeting the BHI Incentive Program milestones, based on their approved application. Complete instructions are provided in the application.
Webinar:
DHCS convened a webinar on Friday, November, 22 2019 at 1:00 p.m. Presentation resources are listed below.
MCP Contact List:
The local MCP contact list can be found here: MCP Contact list
