Public Policy Update: January 28, 2010
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January 28, 2010
The National Council would like to thank our members who responded to last week’s Action Alert that urged your organizations to sign on to a letter in support of extending the FMAP increase. Your responses, along with those of hundreds of other human service organizations across the country, contributed to a strong showing of support for the FMAP extension. In all, over 500 national, state, and local organizations signed the letter, which was sent to Congress on Jan. 20.
The FMAP extension has already been included in the House-passed Jobs for Main Street Act. The Senate is still debating its jobs measure, and the Senate Finance Committee will be meeting on Thursday to discuss options for the bill. Although there is some support on the Committee for the FMAP extension, it is not yet clear whether the committee will include that provision in the bill. Stay tuned to the Public Policy Update for future updates on this issue.
As the dust settles from last week’s Massachusetts election, in which the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the Congressional leadership continues to consider possible routes to enacting healthcare reform. This week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested she might be able to pull together a majority in the House to pass the Senate’s version of healthcare reform if the Senate agrees to a package of changes that can be moved through Congress using a process known as “reconciliation,” which only requires a simple majority vote in the Senate for passage rather than the usual 60 votes. Other tactics under consideration include scaling back the reform bills to include only the provisions with strong bipartisan support, or eliminating the non-budgetary provisions so as to move the entire bill through reconciliation. In his State of the Union Address last night, Obama called on Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work together to press ahead on healthcare reform. He urged Congress to “take another look” at the healthcare reform bills that have already been passed by the House and the Senate, asking them not to walk away from healthcare reform: “Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people. Let's get it done.”
The National Council continues to advocate for the healthcare reform proposals that are of importance to the behavioral health community. Most recently, we have signed on to disability coalition advertisement in today’s issue of Roll Call urging Congress to pass meaningful health reform that includes the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program and improvements to Medicaid home and community based services. We have also signed on to a letter by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities urging Congress to enact healthcare reform as quickly as possible.
The National Council would like to extend our gratitude to those of you who responded to our Action Alert urging Congress not to give up on healthcare reform. National Council members sent over 200 messages to their Members of Congress in support of healthcare reform. Thank you for your efforts!
On Wednesday night, President Obama gave his first State of the Union Address since taking office. Among his many proposals was a strong focus on the budget and the federal deficit. Obama announced that his budget, to be released next week, would call for a spending freeze on all non-security discretionary programs, to begin in 2011. However, he clarified that this spending freeze will not apply to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, nor would it apply to a potential extension of the increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). Moreover, the freeze applies to overall agency budgets, meaning that some programs within agencies may see increases, while others may be cut or eliminated. Obama stated that “we will continue to go through the budget line by line to eliminate programs that we can't afford and don't work. We've already identified $20 billion in savings for next year.” Further details on the proposal are not yet available; we expect to learn more when the President’s budget is released on Monday.
Obama also announced that he would use an executive order to create a bipartisan debt commission to study strategies for lowering the federal deficit. This move comes after the Senate this week was unable to muster the 60 votes needed to approve the creation of a debt commission. Additionally, he introduced a proposal to take $30 billion of the money large banks have repaid the federal government and transfer it to community banks for the purpose of extending credit to small businesses.
The coming months will be a crucial time for behavioral health advocates to stay vigilant and increase their political engagement with their Members of Congress. Stay tuned to the PPU and the National Council’s Action Alerts to find out how to get involved. We also encourage members to attend our annual Public Policy Institute and Hill Day in June to learn about the issues, communicate your priorities to your elected officials, and make your voice heard on Capitol Hill. See below for more information on Hill Day.
With the midterm elections fast approaching and the behavioral health industry facing emerging opportunities and challenges in federal policy and regulations, there’s no better time to increase your political engagement and make your voice heard on Capitol Hill. The National Council's 6th Annual Public Policy Institute and Hill Day will be held on June 29-30, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, D.C. The Public Policy Institute is a unique opportunity for you to directly engage with key congressional staff, officials from the Obama Administration, and leaders in the behavioral health industry. You’ll also have a chance to participate in discussions about the issues and network with hundreds of your colleagues from around the country. The next day, head over to Capitol Hill to meet with your elected officials to discuss the policy issues of importance to your communities.
Registration for Hill Day is free and now open. Check out our new Hill Day 2010 website for helpful resources on what to expect from Hill Day, how to plan visits with your elected officials, how to successfully communicate your priorities to your Members of Congress, and much more! For those of you who have attended previous Hill Days, we took note of your evaluations and feedback, and we’ve made new improvements to the program this year. Visit the Hill Day 2010 website often for further updates, including a schedule of events, speakers, and much more!
If you have questions about Hill Day, please contact Rebecca Farley at rebeccaf@thenationalcouncil.org or 202-684-7457 ext. 235.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has identified ten strategic initiatives which the agency will focus on under its new administrator, Pam Hyde. The initiatives are intended to advance SAMHSA’s work on improving the delivery and financing of prevention, treatment, and recovery support services. The 10 initiatives are:
- Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness: Create prevention prepared communities and to focus on prevention of mental illness and substance abuse, focusing first on children and youth, and eventually serving individuals, families, peers, schools, businesses and communities across the lifespan.
- Violence and Trauma: Reduce the behavioral health impacts of violence and trauma and integrate trauma-informed services in prevention and treatment programs in States and communities, and throughout the health service delivery system to address root causes of pervasive, harmful, and costly public health problems.
- Military Families: Support of our service men and women and their families and communities by leading efforts to ensure needed behavioral health services are accessible and outcomes are successful.
- Housing and Homelessness: Provide housing and reduce the barriers that homeless persons with mental and substance use disorders and their families experience when accessing programs that sustain recovery.
- Jobs and Economy: Use funding streams to boost employment opportunities in communities for people in need of jobs including people with mental and substance use disorders.
- Health Insurance Reform Implementation: Achieve equality with all other health conditions for the prevention and treatment of mental and substance use disorders.
- Health Information Technology for Behavioral Health Providers: Ensure the behavioral health provider network, including prevention specialists and consumer providers, fully participate with the general health care delivery system in the adoption of health information technology.
- Behavioral Health Workforce - In Primary and Specialty Care Settings: Provide a coordinated approach to address workforce development issues affecting the behavioral health service delivery community.
- Data and Outcomes - Getting Results: Realize an integrated data strategy that informs policy and measures program impact leading to improved outcomes for people in need of services.
- Public Awareness and Support: Change how mental health and substance abuse services are perceived so that people seek help for these conditions with the same urgency as any other health condition.
A bipartisan group of Representatives in the House have formed a new caucus to focus on the mental health challenges facing America’s service members and veterans. Called the Invisible Wounds Caucus, the group will explore issues relating to the rising occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, depression, substance abuse, and suicide among service members. Recent reports found a rise in suicides among active-duty military in 2009, with more service members dying by suicide than those killed in service. The Caucus will also press for expanded treatment option for members of the military suffering from these “invisible wounds.” The founding members of the Invisible Wounds Caucus are Reps. Harry Teague (D-NM), Phil Roe (R-TN), Mike McMahon (D-NY), and Tom Rooney (R-FL).
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration on Children and Families (ACF)have issued a notification with information on how states may use Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) emergency funds to assist families needing short-term mental health and substance use treatment. The TANF Emergency Fund was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act but is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2010. According to the SAMHSA release, TANF funds may be used to develop short-term assistance programs for a wide range of services, including mental health and substance abuse services for struggling families. Additional information is available from SAMHSA and from the Office of Family Assistance at the Welfare Peer TA network.
Deadline Tomorrow: Prospective Observational Study to Analyze Treatment and Decision-Making Patterns in Community Behavioral Health Organizations
The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare invites member organizations to apply to participate in an industry-funded prospective study evaluating real-world treatment and decision making for clients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar disorders. This study aims to provide observational data to further our understanding about current antipsychotic treatment, practice patterns, and healthcare utilization in community behavioral healthcare organizations (CBHOs).
Participating CBHOs will be asked to complete baseline, 6-month, and 12-month face-to-face interviews and data extraction from medical records and/or an electronic health record for participants in the study (clients at the CBHO). Key site staff (a site principle investigator and/or research coordinator) will be asked to attend an in-person one-day launch meeting and a web-training seminar prior to the start of the study. Site staff attending the launch meeting will be reimbursed for travel costs.
It is expected that sites be able to recruit at least 50 study participants over a 12-month recruitment period; both the CBHO and study participants will receive compensation for their participation.
If your organization would like to apply, please complete the site screening questionnaire and email it to Mohini Venkatesh, Director of Federal & State Policy. The deadline for submission is COB on Friday, January 29th. If you have questions about the study or application process, please contact Mohini Venkatesh at mohiniv@thenationalcouncil.org or 202-684-7457 ext 230.
