The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has extended its temporary ban on new Medicaid behavioral health provider enrollment through June 30, 2026. The pause was set to end on January 1, 2026. It applies only to new applicants in four program types: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs (PRP), PRP Health Homes, Level 2.5 Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP), and Level 2.1 Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP). It covers 10 jurisdictions, including Baltimore City and Baltimore County. It does not stop anyone from getting care. Providers like 70 x 7 Wellness already enrolled before the moratorium can keep serving current clients and can take new ones.
The rest of this article covers what the extension changes, what it leaves alone, why the state says it acted, and how a Baltimore family can choose care while the pause is in place.
What Exactly Is the Extension on the Ban on Medicaid Behavioral Health Provider Enrollment?
State announcements often use dense language, so here is the plain version.
The Maryland Medicaid Public Behavioral Health System pays for mental health and substance use services for people enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid is one of the largest payers for behavioral health care in the country, a role laid out in SAMHSA’s Medicaid primer on behavioral health. Any change to who can bill that system affects many people.
The extension is not a statewide ban on Medicaid behavioral health services. It is a targeted freeze on new organizations enrolling in four categories of community-based care in 10 jurisdictions. The jurisdictions include Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, and Washington County, along with others named by the Department. Limiting the freeze to specific programs and places lets MDH work on the weak points it has identified without suspending services more broadly.
The moratorium was first put in place to give MDH time to review and restructure these programs. Deputy Secretary Alyssa Lord described the goal as a comprehensive evaluation of the provider network. That kind of review takes longer than a single deadline allows, which is why the pause now runs from January 1, 2026, to June 30, 2026.
For someone looking for help, the key point is simple: new organizations cannot enroll in these categories right now, but existing enrolled providers are still operating.
The Affected Programs and Why They Matter in Maryland
The freeze applies only to new applicants for the four program types below. Each is a core part of community care for people managing long-term mental illness or recovering from addiction.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Programs (PRP): PRP is skill-building support that helps people with mental illness live independently and take part in community life. Typical work includes managing a budget, using public transportation, keeping appointments, and looking for a job. For many people, steady PRP support helps prevent repeated crises and hospital stays.
PRP Health Homes: These build on the PRP model by adding care coordination. Mental health support is linked with physical health care, housing help, and other needs so the person is not juggling several disconnected systems alone.
Level 2.5 Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP): PHP is often an alternative to inpatient care. It provides structured clinical treatment for several hours a day, several days a week, and the person goes home at night. It often serves as a step down after a crisis or as a way to avoid one.
Level 2.1 Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP): IOP is a step down from PHP. It provides scheduled clinical treatment a few hours at a time on several days each week, so people can keep working, attend school, or care for family while getting consistent support.
In neighborhoods across Baltimore City and Baltimore County, these programs are basic parts of recovery, not extras. The state chose these categories because they have grown quickly and, by MDH’s account, have carried a higher risk of improper billing and poor-quality service.
Why MDH Extended the Behavioral Health Moratorium
MDH has given two main reasons: to raise the quality of care and to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in the system.
When a funding stream grows quickly to meet real demand, some operators try to take advantage of it. In community behavioral health, that can mean opening a program, enrolling many clients, and billing for services that were never delivered or were delivered so poorly that they did not help.
That wastes public money. Worse, it harms people who need help. Picture someone who needs real PRP support finding they have been signed up with a program that collects signatures but never helps with housing, medication routines, or daily living skills. That person loses time in recovery that can be hard to recover.
The extension gives MDH more time to review existing providers in the 10 affected jurisdictions and set clearer standards before new organizations are allowed in. State budget analysts track this work as part of the Behavioral Health Administration’s oversight of the public system. The fiscal 2026 budget analysis for the MDH Behavioral Health Administration is where lawmakers review that administration’s operations and spending.
Oversight and Access Pull in Different Directions
Families should understand the tension here. Tighter enrollment rules can protect patients from poor programs, but they also limit how many new providers can open while demand stays high.
Access problems were already common before this moratorium. The federal Office of Inspector General surveyed behavioral health providers to see how many would actually take new Medicare and Medicaid patients. Researchers studying state Medicaid policy have also looked at how program design shapes access. One review of Medicaid waivers and access to behavioral health services describes how state choices about what Medicaid covers, and how, affect whether people can reach care.
Maryland also reports on whether its Medicaid program treats mental health and substance use benefits fairly compared with medical benefits. The 2025 Maryland Medicaid MHPAEA parity report is the state’s own record of that review.
Taken together, the point for families is practical. A pause on new providers makes it more important to find an established program that can actually see you, not just one that appears on a list.
Why the Focus on Fraud Prevention Can Help Patients
It may seem strange to call a freeze on new providers good for patients, especially where need is high. But trust matters a great deal in mental health and addiction care. When fraud becomes widespread, it damages confidence in the whole system and makes it harder for legitimate programs to do their work.
The pause gives MDH and oversight bodies time to strengthen compliance monitoring. For people already in care, or about to start, that can mean:
- Higher standards for existing providers: Programs that are already operating face closer review and need to show they are delivering documented, real services.
- Faster accountability: The state can identify improper payments or services that never happened more quickly.
- Resources directed to what works: When less money is lost to fraud, more can go to programs that help people recover.
No one wants the moratorium to last forever. The goal is a system people can trust when they ask for help.
What This Medicaid Enrollment Pause Means for Someone Seeking Help Now
Maybe you are reading this because a son, daughter, spouse, or parent is struggling with drinking, opioids, or a mental health crisis, and you worry that the news means the door is closed. It does not.
The ban blocks new organizations from enrolling in four categories. It does not block patients from getting services. A provider that was licensed and enrolled before the moratorium can still accept new patients in PRP, PHP, IOP, and the other services it offers.
Seventy Times Seven Wellness Mission (70 x 7 Wellness) has served adults in Baltimore City and Baltimore County since 2016 and continues to operate during the pause. Its services include:
- Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (PRP)
- Partial hospitalization (PHP)
- Intensive outpatient (IOP)
- Standard outpatient
- Residential care
- Sober living
- Medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
Its clinical approaches at 70 x 7 Wellness include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), trauma-informed counseling, EMDR, exposure and response prevention (ERP), and family therapy. Supporting services include nurse case management, supportive housing, job readiness training, family health services, and community support services.
The 70 x 7 Wellness practice treats substance use disorders, including:
- Alcohol
- Opioids
- Prescription drugs
- Cocaine
- Marijuana
- Benzodiazepines
- Stimulants
- Gambling addiction
It also treats depression, anxiety disorders (including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorder), PTSD, and bipolar disorder.
Its approach at 70 x 7 Wellness is faith-based and built on evidence-based methods, accountability, and respect. Clients move between levels of care based on clinical need rather than billing cycles. It also has a focus on reentry, working with parole officers, courts, and Maryland’s 8507 Program for people returning to the community after incarceration.
Practical Steps for Choosing a Provider During the Freeze
- Look for an established track record. Ask how long the program has served people in Maryland’s public behavioral health system and in your county.
- Verify licensure and ask about coverage. Confirm the provider is licensed by the state, then ask the program to check your specific coverage and explain in writing what your plan will and will not pay for.
- Ask whether they can see you now. Ask about intake timing so you know whether a program can start care soon, not just whether it is listed.
- Ask how they handle transitions. If someone starts in PHP, ask how and when they would step down to IOP or outpatient care, and who decides. Ask the same about moving up to more care if things get worse.
- Ask about continuity in PRP. Because PRP focuses on daily life in the community, ask how often staff meet with clients, who coordinates with doctors and housing, and what happens if a staff member leaves.
- Ask about family involvement. If you are the parent or partner making calls, ask whether family therapy or family sessions are part of care and how the program shares information with your loved one’s consent.
- Ask about legal and reentry coordination when it applies. For someone on parole or involved with the courts, ask whether the program works with parole officers or the 8507 Program and how attendance and progress are reported.
Clear answers to these questions say more about a program than any advertisement.
Navigating Baltimore’s Behavioral Health Landscape During the Enrollment Freeze
It is normal to feel lost when policy changes complicate recovery. Demand remains high across Maryland, and the freeze means fewer new programs will open in the short term. That can create pressure to accept the first available opening.
Act quickly, but choose carefully. The moratorium exists because the state found programs that were not serving people well. Your job as the person seeking care, or as the family member helping, is to find a program that can show it delivers real treatment.
Some things are worth looking for:
- Care that matches the whole situation. Someone with co-occurring addiction and depression, or PTSD and opioid use, needs a program that can treat both, not refer one away.
- Support beyond therapy. Housing, job readiness, and case management can decide whether someone stays in recovery, especially after a hospital stay, a residential program, or release from incarceration.
- Flexibility across levels of care. Recovery is rarely a straight line. A program that can step someone up or down without starting over somewhere else reduces the risk of losing them between programs.
- Respect for values. For families who want faith to be part of healing, a faith-based program that also uses evidence-based methods may be a good fit. For others, ask how faith is offered so you know what to expect.
Recovery is not a race, but waiting has costs. A crisis does not pause for the end of a state moratorium.
Key Dates and Facts at a Glance
- What is paused: New provider enrollment in Maryland Medicaid’s Public Behavioral Health System for PRP, PRP Health Homes, Level 2.5 PHP, and Level 2.1 IOP.
- Where: 10 jurisdictions, including Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, and Washington County.
- When: Extended from January 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026.
- Who is not affected: Patients seeking care, and providers that were already enrolled before the moratorium.
- Stated purpose: Evaluate the provider network, strengthen the Public Behavioral Health System, reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, and improve quality of care.
Conclusion
The extended MDH ban on Medicaid behavioral health enrollment is a temporary limit on growth meant to protect the system over the long term. While MDH reviews the provider network and tightens fraud prevention, established providers remain open and are now the main source of PRP, PHP, and IOP care in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
If you or someone you love needs help, do not wait until June 30, 2026. Look for a program with a track record, ask direct questions about coverage, intake timing, and transitions, and choose care that addresses the whole person. Seventy Times Seven Wellness Mission has served Baltimore since 2016 and continues to offer addiction and mental health treatment throughout the moratorium.
