Public Policy Update: April 28, 2011
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April 28, 2011
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has selected 15 states to design proposals for new ways to meet the health care needs of individuals who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. These dual eligibles often experience disproportionately high rates of disability and chronic illness, and typically have more complex and costly health needs than other groups of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries.
The State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals is a new program created under the Affordable Care Act to fund strategies for fully coordinating primary, acute, behavioral and long-term supports and services for dual eligible individuals. The 15 states selected for the demonstration will receive up to $1 million each for designing programs aimed at eliminating duplication of services, expanding access to needed care, and improving the lives of dual eligibles, all while lowering costs. After federal review, states that successfully complete their design contract may be eligible to receive support to implement their proposals. As part of this initiative, CMS will also provide technical assistance to additional states interested in improving care for dual eligibles.
The selected states are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. More information about the newly created Federal Coordinated Care Office can be found on the CMS website. The details of these states’ proposals will be published online as they become available. For more information on dual eligibles, see this fact sheet from the National Council.
Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day is May 3: Fact Sheets, Resources on Childhood Trauma Available Online
This year, National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day will be held on May 3, 2011. Awareness Day is a grassroots initiative by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health. This year, Awareness Day will focus on building resilience in young children dealing with trauma. SAMHSA expects to have over 1,000 communities mark the day with community events, youth rallies, social media campaigns, and activities with children to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health.
SAMHSA will host a tribute event in Washington, D.C. to recognize youth who have experienced early childhood trauma and demonstrated resilience. Youth from across the country will share their stories at this event, to be held from 7p.m. to 9p.m. EDT. Visit www.samhsa.gov/children to see a webcast of the event. Youth 14 and older are welcome to watch. Prior to the show, see the National Institutes of Mental Health panel on the state of the science in children’s mental health, which will be videocasted on http://guest.cvent.com/d/6dqb5L.
SAMHSA has also made several fact sheets and other resources available in conjunction with Awareness Day. These include a new section of the SAMHSA website with resources on early childhood trauma, a fact sheet on promoting resilience through dance, tips on how to help build resilience in children and youth dealing with trauma, and much more. Additional details about Awareness Day and links to more resources can be found on SAMHSA’s website.
Representative Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) has sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration urging the FDA to do more to combat prescription drug abuse. Representative Bono Mack writes, “I strongly urge you to take additional, critically necessary safeguards immediately. Most importantly, the FDA should limit the use of OxyContin and other oxycodone prescription drugs for severe pain only. This is one of the best ways to limit the "street supply" of these powerfully addictive narcotic drugs.”
Ms. Bono Mack’s letter came a day after the Obama Administration unveiled its multi-agency strategy to fight prescription drug abuse. Educating providers about the proper way to prescribe opioids and identifying individuals who might abuse or misuse the drugs is a key component of the new strategy. The plan also calls for every state to develop a prescription drug-monitoring program and encourages them to share the information with other states.
The National Council has signed on to a letter by the Mental Health Liaison Group in support of legislation soon to be introduced that would reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. This program, enacted in 2004, provides support to states, territories, and institutions of higher education for the implementation of strategies for youth suicide prevention. It also funds the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, which provides information and training to states, tribes, institutions of higher education, and public organizations or private non-profit groups in an effort to prevent suicide among all ages, particularly among high risk groups such as youth.
Youth suicide is the third leading death for young people ages 15-24 years and the second leading cause of death among college students. The Reauthorization Act will be introduced by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Tom Udall (D-NM). It includes both a reauthorization of the Garrett Lee Smith programs and a modest increase in authorized funding for suicide prevention activities.
The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) invites mental health and addiction treatment organizations to submit an application for a new Integrated Health Provider Learning Collaborative. Participation in this Collaborative will greatly assist your organization to respond to the important question: How can community mental health and addiction provider organizations build collaborative relationships that support clinical integration?
The Integrated Health Provider Learning Collaborative is designed to provide community mental health and addiction provider organizations with the opportunity and means to achieve the following goals:
- Provide basic information about the new integrated service delivery models being developed.
- Provide an opportunity for each collaborative member to assess its readiness to participate in new integrated service delivery entities/methodologies.
- Provide technical assistance/support to collaborative members to facilitate their addressing the typical service delivery challenges that have historically created barriers to providing value enhanced services.
- Develop a Rapid Cycle Change Plan for each member of the collaborative that will address specific change goals and objectives and a specific timeline to accomplish the changes needed.
- Support a continuous quality improvement based learning experience for each member.
- Provide an opportunity for collaborative members to share their outcomes with other behavioral healthcare providers.
The CIHS Integrated Health Provider Learning Collaborative is a nine month learning project involving fifteen community mental health and addiction provider organizations chosen through a competitive application process. All project costs, including conference calls, travel, and consultation time, are free to participants.
Please complete this application and send to CIHS by close of business (5:00 PM, Eastern time) on May 20, 2011. We prefer that applications be submitted electronically to the following email address: LairaK@thenationalcouncil.org. Please feel free to contact Laira Kolkin with questions about the application process. Laira can be reached at 202-684-7457 ext. 256, or LairaK@thenationalcouncil.org.
The 41st Annual National Council Mental Health and Addictions Conference will take place May 2-4 in San Diego. For the first time ever, the National Council will be live streaming several of the general sessions at our conference. This is a great way for staff back at the office to share the conference experience from their desks — ask them to tune into an online broadcast of the following sessions at www. TheNationalCouncil.org/Conference:
- Monday, May 2, 8:00 am – 8:45 am pacific: Linda Rosenberg, President & CEO, National Council
- Monday, May 2, 2:15 pm – 3:15 pm pacific: Pamela Hyde, Administrator, SAMHSA
- Tuesday, May 3, 8:30 am – 9:30 am pacific: Donald Berwick, Administrator, CMS
These video recordings are also available for you to view for a limited time after the conference.
