Behavioral health and substance use

AzHHA advocates for a system that provides timely, evidence-based behavioral health and substance use care across the continuum of care. This includes working crisis lines and mobile teams, quick placement into appropriate care levels and seamless transitions to outpatient and recovery services.

We support parity in integrated medical and behavioral healthcare, as well as sufficient capacity for psychiatric, detox, residential, Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP), Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) and outpatient treatments. Our focus is on low-barrier access to medications for opioid and alcohol use disorders, same-day initiation in EDs and inpatient units, and consistent warm handoffs.

We oppose prior authorization rules and network gaps that lead to ED boarding, weekend or holiday authorization blackouts and payment policies that treat behavioral health differently from medical care. The goal is to reduce delays, ensure safer transitions and improve patient outcomes across all communities in Arizona, including rural areas.