December 31, 2009

Senate Passes Healthcare Reform Bill; Official Negotiations to Reconcile House and Senate Versions Expected to Begin After the New Year

National Council President & CEO Discusses “Hope for People with Mental Illnesses and Substance Use Disorders” in Online Column

House Passes Jobs for Main Street Act; Includes FMAP Increase Extension

President Obama Signs Omnibus Appropriations Bill; Includes Funding for Key MH & SUDs Programs
 

Senate Passes Healthcare Reform Bill; Official Negotiations to Reconcile House and Senate Versions Expected to Begin After the New Year
Early in the morning on December 24, the Senate voted 60-39 to pass The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590), thus meeting Majority Leader Harry Reid’s goal of passing a healthcare reform bill out of the Senate before Christmas. Official negotiations to reconcile differences between the House-passed Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962) and the Senate bill are expected to begin soon after the New Year. While the House only returns for legislative business on January 12 and the Senate on January 20, some Congressional Democrats are still hopeful that Congress can send a healthcare reform bill to President Obama by the end of January.

The National Council has updated its side-by-side comparison chart of key provisions of the House and Senate bills to include changes to the Senate bill that were made through the Manager’s Amendment. Additionally, the presentation and recording for the latest Healthcare Reform Update webinar, held on December 29, are now available online.

The National Council would like to thank its members for their continued involvement in our advocacy efforts. Please stay tuned to the Public Policy Update and Action Alerts to find out how you can get involved in January!

National Council President & CEO Discusses “Hope for People with Mental Illnesses and Substance Use Disorders” in Online Column
In a column recently posted on HealthNewsDigest.com, the National Council’s President & CEO, Linda Rosenberg, discusses the potential for healthcare reform to expand coverage and increase access to healthcare for individuals with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. This couldn’t come at a better time, with “demand for mental health and substance use treatment up just as state budgets for these types of services are being severely reduced.” Linda continues her comments by stating, “While healthcare reform is not a panacea for people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders, it takes groundbreaking steps in the right direction and may help stem the escalating death rates of people with serious mental illnesses.”

House Passes Jobs for Main Street Act; Includes FMAP Increase Extension
On December 16, the House of Representatives passed the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010.  The bill contains $75 billion in investments in infrastructure, public service jobs, and emergency relief.  Several provisions in the bill are of particular interest to behavioral health providers:
 

• $23.5 billion to extend the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) increase enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
• $1 billion to the National Housing Trust Fund to provide communities with funds to build, preserve, and rehabilitate rental homes that are affordable for extremely and very low-income households
• $65 million for project-based vouchers to support units built by the National Housing Trust Fund
• $305 million to freeze Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines at 2009 levels in order to prevent a reduction in eligibility for public programs, including Medicaid.

A summary of all the spending provisions in the bill is available online.  The National Council has signed on to a letter in support of the FMAP extension and would like to thank members who responded to Action Alerts in support of increased funding for the National Housing Trust Fund.

President Obama Signs Omnibus Appropriations Bill; Includes Funding for Key MH & SUDs Programs
On December 16, President Obama signed an omnibus appropriations bill (HR 3288) that includes funding for Labor-HHS-Education and Commerce-Justice-Science into law. The bill includes several important spending increases for mental health and addictions services, including:

• $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
• $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

Funding for the Mental Health Block Grant remained flat at $421 million.  The National Council has updated our Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Chart with the newest funding levels from the omnibus bill. 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.