December 10, 2009

Appropriations Omnibus Bill Released

SAMHSA Will Hold VideoCast of Administrator Hyde’s Constituency Group Meeting Today

CMS Issues Guidance on Implementing Behavioral Health Parity in Medicare; National Council Releases Fact Sheet for Patients and Providers

Action Needed: Complete Brief Capital Needs Survey by Dec. 25

National Council Submits Comments on CCHIT Behavioral Health EHR Criteria

National Council Submits Comments to CMS on Six Protected Classes of Drugs

Senate Reaches Deal on Key Provision of Healthcare Reform

States Expanded Access to Medicaid and CHIP in 2009, Study Finds
 

Appropriations Omnibus Bill Released

House and Senate appropriators this week released the text of an omnibus spending bill for six of the appropriations bills that have not yet been enacted, including Labor-HHS-Education (H.R. 3293) and Commerce-Justice-Science (H.R. 2847). 

The National Council has updated our Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Chart with the newest funding levels from the omnibus bill.  Some of the highlights include:

• $14 million for SAMHSA’s co-location grant program, double the FY 2009 allocation of $7 million
• $1.8 billion for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, a $20 million increase vs. FY 2009 levels
• $421 million for the Mental Health Block Grant
• $121 million for children’s mental health services, a $13 million increase vs. FY 2009
• $65 million in grants to states for homelessness, a $5 million increase vs. FY 2009
• $12 million for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment Crime Reduction Act, a $2 million increase
• $100 million for Second Chance Act Recovery programming, four times the FY 2009 allocation of $25 million

We are grateful to all of the National Council members who have supported these budget increases at Hill Day and in other interactions with their members of Congress.

The continuing resolution that is currently funding government operations will run out on Dec. 18.  House and Senate leadership have said they hope to approve the bill and send it to the President’s desk by Sunday.  See the Federal Budget page of our website for more information about appropriations.  


SAMHSA Will Hold VideoCast of Administrator Hyde’s Constituency Group Meeting Today

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will hold a real-time VideoCast of today’s constituency group meeting in which Pamela Hyde will be introduced to the mental health and substance abuse community as the new SAMHSA Administrator.  SAMHSA is inviting the public to join and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, colleagues in the MH/SA field, and the SAMHSA staff online today to welcome Ms. Hyde to her new post.  To watch the event, go online to: http://videocast.nih.gov/.   Click “Constituency Meeting to Welcome the New SAMHSA Administrator” to view the program live.   


CMS Issues Guidance on Implementing Mental Health Parity in Medicare; National Council Releases Fact Sheet for Patients and Providers

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a final rule establishing guidelines on how mental health parity for outpatient services will be implemented in Medicare.  Currently, Medicare pays for only half the cost of covered outpatient mental health services, but pays 80% of the cost of other outpatient services.  The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), enacted in July 2008, included a requirement to phase out unequal co-pays for mental health services.  Under the new rules, beginning on January 1, 2010, reduced co-pays for mental health services will be slowly phased in so that by Jan. 1, 2014, patients will pay only 20% of outpatient mental health services and Medicare will pay 80%.  The new guidelines were published in the Federal Register on Nov. 25, 2009 (see pages 61786-61788).  The National Council has published a fact sheet for patients and providers to assist them with understanding the new co-pay requirements.


Action Needed: Complete Brief Capital Needs Survey by Dec. 25

In 2007, the Community-Based Mental Health Infrastructure Improvements Act (S. 2183/ HR 4899) was introduced in Congress. This bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to create a new grant program that will explicitly support the construction, expansion, and modernization of facilities used to provide mental health and addiction treatment services. While this bill was never brought up for a vote in the 110th Congress, it is our understanding that Congressional support for this bill persists and as such, an opportunity to reintroduce this bill in 2010 may arise. However, we need your help to support this effort: Please complete a brief online survey so we can ensure that this bill is responsive to your infrastructure needs!

Currently, there is no federal funding available for construction of community mental health facilities. The Community-Based Mental Health Infrastructure Improvement Act was created to ensure that individuals with mental illnesses and addictions are not turned away because a facility does not have the resources to expand facilities to meet community need. With a reformed health care system likely on the horizon, this bill helps to ensure that your organization will have access to loan guarantees and other funding to support infrastructure improvements that will help to meet new demand for services.

Please complete this survey by Friday, December 25th. Have questions? Please contact Mohini Venkatesh, Director of Federal & State Policy at the National Council.


National Council Submits Comments on CCHIT Behavioral Health EHR Criteria

The National Council has submitted its comments on the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) proposed certification criteria for behavioral health electronic health records (EHRs).  The CCHIT proposals can be viewed online; one set of criteria applies to the needs of behavioral health as an add-on to a physician’s office, and another set applies to behavioral EHRs as a stand-alone certification.  CCHIT is inviting public comments on the draft criteria through Dec. 11, 2009.  Public comments will be accepted only through the online webform.


National Council Submits Comments to CMS on Six Protected Classes of Drugs

A proposed rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in October called for changes to federal policies protecting patients’ access to six classes of prescription drugs, including psychotropic medications such as anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, and anti-convulsants.  Under current guidance, Medicare Part D is required to cover all drugs within each of the six protected classes – but the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) required CMS to issue new guidance on how protected  classes would be established, and the new proposed rule does not explicitly state that psychotropic medications will remain a protected class.  The National Council has submitted comments urging CMS to ensure that psychotropic drugs continue to be a protected class of drugs and to enact limits on utilization management tools that may be imposed on drugs in the protected categories.


Senate Reaches Deal on Key Provision of Healthcare Reform

Senate negotiators are continuing to work out compromises on some of the most controversial aspects of healthcare reform legislation.  One of the biggest sticking points to date has been whether to include a publicly run insurance option, and if so, what the details of the public option will look like.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced on Tuesday night that a deal had been struck on the public option that may allow the bill to soon come to a vote on the floor.  While Reid and other Senators involved in the talks would not provide details, they did say that the compromise involved allowing people age 55-64 to buy in to Medicare.  The proposal has now been sent to the Congressional Budget Office to receive a cost estimate.  With the winter holidays quickly approaching, the Senate faces a time crunch on the remaining debate and procedural motions that must take place if the bill is to be passed before Christmas, as Reid has said he hopes to do.

Families USA has launched a call for signatures on a petition urging the Senate not to filibuster health care reform.  The petition and a link to add your name are available on the Families USA website.  In addition, the Commonwealth Fund has released a new report documenting the ways in which health care reform will produce cost savings and address other challenges in the healthcare system.

The National Council has published a side-by-side comparison chart of the mental health and addictions provisions of the House and Senate healthcare bills.  Stay tuned to the Public Policy Update and the National Council’s healthcare reform webinar series for more updates about the progress of healthcare reform legislation.  Our next webinar will be held on Dec. 16 at 2:00 PM EST.  Registration is available on our website.


States Expanded Access to Medicaid and CHIP in 2009, Study Finds

The Kaiser Family Foundation has published the results of a 50-state survey on states’ eligibility and enrollment rules for Medicaid and CHIP during 2009.  The report found that despite the economic downturn and the strain on state budgets, 26 states this year enacted laws to expand coverage, simplify enrollment, or otherwise make it easier for children and parents to get health coverage.  However, the future of these gains is uncertain, as states face a significant drop in funding when the Medicaid assistance from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) expires at the end of 2010.  The National Council strongly supports an extension of the ARRA assistance and continues to advocate for its inclusion in healthcare reform.