October 1, 2009

National Council Extends Gratitude to Senator Stabenow for Her Leadership on Health Care Reform; Finance Committee Mark Up Continues

Setting the National Council’s Policy & Practice Agenda for Children and Youth

CORRECTION: 72 Representatives Sign on to House Parity Letter Requesting Agencies to Issue Regulations in a Timely Manner
 

National Council Extends Gratitude to Senator Stabenow for Her Leadership on Health Care Reform; Finance Committee Mark Up Continues

The National Council recently submitted an official letter to Senator Stabenow (D-MI), thanking her for her extraordinary leadership during the Senate Finance Committee mark up of  “America’s Health Futures Act of 2009”. Since the Committee began consideration of amendments to their health care reform proposal, several of Senator Stabenow’s amendments have been included:

• Stabenow/Wyden/Kerry Amendment C2: This amendment insures that the federal Wellstone/Domenici mental health and addiction parity requirement applies to the state exchanges by including a specific statutory reference to this law.
• Stabenow Amendment D5: This amendment clarifies that Medicaid-eligible individuals with SPMI are eligible to receive integrated care via the new State Medicaid option promoting health care homes and integrated care.
• Stabenow Amendment C6: This amendment provides a statutory definition of therapeutic foster care and clarifies that nothing in Section 1905(a) of the Social Security Act should be construed as limiting a State from covering TFC for eligible kids in out-of-home placements. 
   

The National Council is also pleased to report the intent of Bingaman Amendment D9 was incorporated into the Modifications to the Chairman’s Mark: CMHCs have been added to the list of examples of designated providers eligible to participate in the new State Medicaid option promoting health care homes and integrated care.

The Finance Committee has yet to vote on several other amendments of interest to community mental health and addiction providers, including two introduced by Senator Stabenow. If you reside in the following states - MT, WV, ND, NM, MA, AR, OR, NY, MI, WA, FL, NJ, DE, IA, UT, ME, AZ, KY, ID, KS, NV, WY, or TX – contact your Senator and thank him/her for Finance Committee support for amendments of importance to community mental health and addiction services and request his/her support for other key amendments! 

In related news, the Senate Finance Committee voted against two amendments introduced by Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), both of which would have added a public plan option to the Committee’s proposal. While it does not appear that this Committee’s proposal will include the public plan option, it is important to note that other health care reform bills passed out of House and Senate committees of jurisdiction include versions of the public plan option; these committee proposals must be reconciled before passage of a final health care reform bill.  

Ways to Get Involved

• Join us on October 7 (2-3:30pm EST) for a National Council Healthcare Reform Update webinar to get the latest on the health care reform proposals and next steps.
• The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), of which the National Council is a member, is conducting a web-based video campaign, “Say Yes to Health Reform”, which will feature testimonials from around the country. They are currently in the process of filming clients, providers, business group members, etc., discussing why they support health reform to show that many diverse individuals support comprehensive health reform and to add a face to the health reform discussion. If you’d like to participate, email us by COB Friday, October 2. 
   

Setting the National Council’s Policy & Practice Agenda for Children and Youth

If your organization provides services to children and youth, the National Council is seeking your input on a short survey that takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Data from the survey will help the National Council identify policy and programming priorities related to services for children and youth. Please complete this survey by COB Monday, October 5.

We also welcome your recommendations for resources to include on the National Council webpage for Children and Youth. In particular, we are eager to learn more about innovative programs in your organizations. 

Please feel free to contact Chris Loftis, PhD, Director of Practice Improvement with any questions or suggestions for National Council work in the area of children and youth. 

CORRECTION: 72 Representatives Sign on to House Parity Letter Requesting Agencies to Issue Regulations in a Timely Manner

The National Council would like to extend our gratitude to Representative Kennedy and to the 71 other Representatives that signed on to the official letter requesting the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury to issue regulations for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 as soon as possible. With or without regulations, this Act goes into effect for most plans on January 1, 2010. Not having regulations issued in a timely manner, with clearly outlined implementation details, will greatly limit the intended positive impact of the Act.

Click here to see a final list of the signatories. If your Representative signed on to this letter, send him/her a thank you note to emphasize the importance of this issue. Not sure who your Representative is? Click here to find out.

We would also like to thank our members for responding to an Action Alert regarding this letter; over 300 advocacy messages were sent to Representatives on the three committees of jurisdiction: Energy & Commerce, Education & Labor, and Ways & Means.

The National Council will continue to monitor this situation and will take every opportunity to advocate for the issuance of regulations that meet the intent of Congress in passing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.