Insurers increasingly are paying for behavioral health services that are delivered in coordination with primary care, according to a new claims analysis from Milliman.

Why it matters: The idea of coordinating mental health care with physical health care has been around since the 1990s. But Medicare billing codes adopted in 2017 have made such arrangements viable in both private and public insurance markets, the report shows.

Context: The system, known as the collaborative care model, involves having a patient’s primary care provider, behavioral health manager and psychiatric counselor create and carry out a mental health treatment plan.