March 25, 2010

President Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill into Law; Senate Considering “Fix it” Bill Passed by House
 
National Council Submits Official Comments to CMS Regarding HIT ‘Meaningful Use’ Criteria
 
37 Representatives Sign on to Dear Colleague Letter in Support of a $100M Increase in the Mental Health Block Grant 
 
Dept. of Veterans Affairs Releases RFP for Community Behavioral Health Pilot Projects
 
2009 Federal Poverty Guidelines in Effect Until At Least March 31, 2010

President Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill into Law; Senate Considering “Fix it” Bill Passed by House
On March 23, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) into law. This healthcare reform package includes parity for mental health and addiction services, ban on pre-existing condition exclusions, Medicaid expansion to 133% of Federal Poverty Level, and many other provisions that expand the opportunities for individuals with mental illness and addiction to maintain insurance coverage and access needed services. Additionally, H.R. 3590 includes the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act to combat postpartum depression and authorizing language for the SAMHSA Primary Care-Behavioral Health Co-Location Grant Program, which has previously received appropriations but has not had authorizing language in federal statute until passage of the healthcare reform package.

In order to ensure House passage of HR 3590 on March 21, Democratic leadership supported the introduction of a companion bill of “fix it” measures, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HR 4872), which was passed by the House. Substantively, the reconciliation bill makes several changes to HR 3590 such as increasing premium subsidies for those purchasing private insurance, altering the tax provisions on high-cost insurance plans, and eliminating some of the provisions of the Senate bill that would have benefitted individual states. While House members in support of reform hoped that the Senate would pass the reconciliation bill as is, a Senate procedural ruling made late last night now requires that HR 4872 goes back to the House for another vote.

Join the National Council on Tuesday, March 30 at 1 pm eastern for a special post Healthcare Reform webinar. Linda Rosenberg, President & CEO, and Chuck Ingoglia, Vice President, Public Policy, will review the bill, assess the behavioral health provisions, and answering your questions. Register today.

The National Council would like to extend our gratitude to President Obama and the members of Congress who championed passage of healthcare reform.

National Council Submits Official Comments to CMS Regarding HIT ‘Meaningful Use’ Criteria
On Jan. 13, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed criteria for establishing “meaningful use” of electronic health records, giving an opportunity for interested parties to submit comments. Compliance with these standards will be required for providers or health organizations hoping to take advantage of the health information technology incentive payments established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In its official comments to CMS, the National Council identified several recommendations to facilitate the meaningful use of electronic records by community behavioral health organizations such as: 1) streamlining the way in which Eligible Professionals reassign their incentive payment to their employer (i.e. CBHO); 2) incorporating provisions in the proposed rule that proactively address the need for CBHOs to be an integral part of a transformed patient-centered health care home; and 3) adopting a more gradual approach in Stage 1 criteria for meaningful use of electronic health records. 

For background information on the proposed rule and potential impact on CBHOs, please review the National Council’s Feb. 19th webinar, “Roll Out of the HIT 'Meaningful Use' Standards and Certification Criteria.” The National Council has also prepared a Frequently Asked Questions document about the proposed rule.

37 Representatives Sign on to Dear Colleague Letter in Support of a $100M Increase in the Mental Health Block Grant
Earlier this week, a Dear Colleague letter in support of a $100 million increase the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) Program was submitted to the Chair and Ranking Minority Member of the House Appropriations Committee. In this letter, the co-signers express concern over multiple consecutive years of state budget cuts and the impact on community mental health services. The letter requests additional funding for the MHBG and states “our requested funding increase for this vital program would enable states and community providers to immediately respond to increased mental health patient caseloads and help states strengthen their public mental health safety net system.”

The National Council strongly supports a $100 million increase to the MHBG and would like to thank the 37 Representatives that signed on to this Dear Colleague letter.

Dept. of Veterans Affairs Releases RFP for Community Behavioral Health Pilot Projects
The Department of Veterans Affairs is now accepting proposals from community behavioral health organizations for contracts to provide outpatient mental health services to veterans in selected regions of the country.

This new VA program was enacted as part of the Veterans Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008.  This statute directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to make mental health care more accessible to returning service members of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by utilizing Community Behavioral Health Organizations.  The legislation specified that the pilot program shall be carried out within areas selected by the Secretary for the purpose of the pilot program in at least three Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs).

The VA has selected the following VISNs for participation:

•    VISN 1: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island
•    VISN 19: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah (and parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Nevada)
•    VISN 20: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska

In its solicitation notice, the VA published this summary of the scope of services:

“Contracted outpatient services will be provided at the contractor's facilities/locations. Services are expected to include peer outreach and peer support services to Veterans by Veterans, outpatient mental health services and readjustment counseling services (as described in Section 1712A of Title 38, United States Code), and mental health day treatment services…The procurement is being issued under full and open competition procedures. Single or multiple awards may result from this solicitation.”

For a full listing of all services that must be provided and a complete description of the program requirements, see the solicitation response form available on the VA website.

The deadline for proposals is May 17, 2010.

2009 Federal Poverty Guidelines in Effect Until At Least March 31, 2010
The Assistant Secretary for Planning & Evaluation within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that the 2009 Federal Poverty Guidelines (often referred to as the “Federal Poverty Level”) will remain in effect until at least March 31, 2010. The Federal Poverty Guidelines are issued each year by HHS and are used for administrative purposes such as determining financial eligibility for certain federal programs.