CMS Issues Guidance on Medicaid Expansions Under Healthcare Reform
 

 

 

The National Council would like to thank our members who responded to recent Action Alerts in support of a $100 million increase in the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG). You made your voices heard in Washington by generating over 1,200 emails to your Senators in support of the Block Grant! Thanks in part to your advocacy, 11 Senators so far have signed on to a Dear Colleague letter by Senator Debbie Stabenow expressing their strong support for the $100 million MHBG funding increase. They are: Bob Casey (D-PA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). 

 

Thank you for your strong and consistent advocacy in support of funding for mental health services. Your efforts are making a difference! The National Council will continue to keep you updated on the MHBG as the federal budget moves through Congress. Stay tuned to future Action Alerts as we continue to support the MHBG, press for an increase to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, and much more!

 

 

 

Linda Rosenberg, President & CEO of the National Council, has joined other advocacy leaders in the behavioral health field to issue a letter in support of expanding the HITECH Act to better incorporate behavioral health providers and organizations. The HITECH Act, which was included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provided for incentive payments to certain types of healthcare organizations for the adoption of electronic health records. However, community behavioral health organizations (CBHOs) were not included as eligible facilities to receive these payments. The letter, which was signed by Linda Rosenberg, Dennis Morrison of the Centerstone Research Institute, Ron Manderscheid of National Association of County Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Directors, and Don Hevey of MHCA, called on the government to improve the HITECH Act by making CBHOs eligible for facility payments under the law. They wrote:

 

 

The full text of the letter is available online. 

 

 

 

With the implementation of healthcare reform rapidly unfolding, the National Council is working to keep members informed and prepared for the changes we can expect in community behavioral healthcare. On Wednesday, National Council President and CEO Linda Rosenberg issued a letter to members describing some of the changes to expect in the future. She wrote:

 

“We anticipate that healthcare reform-driven service delivery redesign and payment reform will unfold at a rapid pace. In order to bend the cost curve, payment reform and service delivery redesign will change how health, mental health and substance use services are integrated, funded, and managed. We must learn to practice healthcare the way healthcare will be done. We must become savvy about positioning ourselves to take advantage of new markets and new opportunities to help control the design and delivery of healthcare services…We must become accountable for efficient and effective services that show results across all health domains…We must become increasingly customer-focused, from the way we greet individuals who come through our door to the way we market our services… At the same time, we must also be aware that our work is far from over at the state and federal level…All of our planning, advocacy, and leadership to date have borne fruit, but we must not be content to wish it all works out well. We must fight for our future — and the future of the individuals we are privileged to serve — by acting as key players in the brave new world of healthcare. Remember to:

You can view the full Letter from Linda online. 

 

For additional information on healthcare reform implementation, visit the Healthcare Reform page of our website, where you can find resources designed to help states, communities, providers, and advocates understand the provisions and impact of the new healthcare reform law. In addition, FamiliesUSA has launched a new website called Health Reform Central: the Road to Implementation This website provides information about how the law will affect different groups of Americans, roadblocks to implementation, a state-level view of the law’s provisions, and a wealth of other resources. 

 

 

 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a letter to State Medicaid Directors providing guidance on one of the cornerstones of the coverage expansions included in healthcare reform: a requirement that states expand Medicaid to cover all individuals under 133% of the federal poverty level, beginning in 2014. In the letter, CMS described the process by which states may begin implementing their Medicaid expansions immediately if they wish, although this is not mandated until 2014. States choosing to enact their Medicaid expansions prior to 2014 may do so without a waiver and will receive federal matching funds at their current rate. After 2014, the federal government will provide states with additional support for the expansions. The full text of the letter is available online.