A governor is uniquely situated to look across the state and coordinate action among state agencies, communities and stakeholders. Many governors are actively engaged in aligning multiple health delivery system reform efforts with broader population health strategies and exploring economically sustainable models. One focal point of the NGA Health work with states is in establishing or scaling up cost-effective programs for individuals with complex care needs. Many of those individuals have unmet behavioral health (mental illness and/or substance misuse) and social service needs that are better served in the community and outside of acute care or institutional settings. To that end, NGA Health is providing states technical assistance around a number of policy priorities in behavioral health including:
- improving outcomes and reducing cost of care for complex populations
- system-level behavioral health and primary care integration
- capacity building in rural and underserved areas
- supportive housing
- behavioral health in criminal justice involved
Publications and Resources
- State Strategies for Averting Early Deaths: Innovations and Best Practices for Preventing Suicide (April 2019)
- Building Complex Care Programs: A Road Map for States (June 2017)
- Housing as Health Care: A Road Map for States (September 2016)
- Medicaid High-Need, High-Cost Programs: Promising Practices for Evaluation Metrics (September 2016)
- Using Data to Better Serve the Most Complex Patients: Highlights from NGA’s Intensive Work with Seven States (September 2015)
Projects
- Building Capacity to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Cost of Care for High Need, High Cost Populations with Behavioral Health and Social Support Needs: Behavioral Health Integration Learning Lab
- Rural Health Learning Collaborative
- Developing State-Level Capacity to Improve Health and Reduce Cost of Populations with Complex Care Needs
- Housing as Health Care
- Housing as Health Care Learning Lab (February 2016)
Meetings
- Building Healthy Communities: How to Support States in the Development of Community-Based Solutions and Sustainable Infrastructure
- Establishing the Building Blocks for Lifelong Health and Success: Supporting States in Advancing Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Generational Solutions to Improve Children’s Lives
- Suicide Prevention Convening