Public Policy Update: May 13, 2010
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May 13, 2010
Behavioral Health IT Bill Wins Bipartisan Support; More Cosponsors Needed for Action on the Bill This Year!
The National Council would like to thank those of you who have responded to our Action Alert urging your Representatives to sign on to H.R. 5040, the Behavioral Health Information Technology Extension Act. This bill would extend federal incentive payments for the adoption of health information technology to certain behavioral health centers and providers. Thanks in part to your strong advocacy, 20 Representatives have so far agreed to cosponsor the bill. But our work isn’t done – we need to keep the pressure on Congress to pass this important bill! We are pushing hard for action on behavioral health IT this year – and to improve our chances, we need 100 cosponsors on the bill. If you have not done so already, please contact your Representative today and urge him or her to cosponsor H.R. 5040!
H.R. 5040 was originally introduced by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Tim Murphy (R-PA), Gene Green (D-TX), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), and Chris Murphy (D-CT). The additional cosponsors are Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Barney Frank (D-MA), Charles A. Gonzalez (D-TX), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Paul Hodes (D-NH), Jim Marshall (D-GA), Dennis Moore (D-KS), Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Ike Skelton (D-MO), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Diane Watson (D-CA). Six of these cosponsors sit on the influential Energy and Commerce Committee, which is the committee with jurisdiction over this bill. We are well on our way to reaching the 100-cosponsor goal, but we need to keep the messages to Congress coming! Please contact your Rep today.
For more information, see our fact sheet on this legislation and the support letter signed by the Mental Health Liaison Group, of which the National Council is a member.
House and Senate negotiators continue working to find a compromise on an extension of federal Medicaid assistance. Although both the House and the Senate have separately voted to approve a 6-month extension to the current increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) rates, the two bills include different methods of offsetting the cost. Lawmakers appear to be close to a final deal on offsets that would allow the House to vote next week on the FMAP bill, H.R. 4213, followed by a vote in the Senate before Congress leaves town for the Memorial Day Recess.
219 Members of the House – a majority – have signed on to a Dear Colleague letter expressing their support for swift passage of the FMAP extension. The National Council would like to thank our members who contacted their Representatives in support of this letter; your efforts resulted in over 280 emails urging Congress to swiftly enact the FMAP extension! Click here to see a final copy of the letter (a list of signers is on the last two pages). Our work isn’t done yet – stay tuned to the Public Policy Update for the latest news on the FMAP extension and how you can get involved to help push it through Congress.
National Council Issues Fact Sheet on Dual Eligibles Provisions in Healthcare Reform; Additional Healthcare Reform Resources Available from HHS
“Dual eligibles,” the nine million individuals who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare, face a number of problems with access to appropriate and timely care. The National Council has released a new fact sheet detailing the provisions of healthcare reform that seek to improve coordination of benefits and care for dual eligibles. The fact sheet provides an overview of changes to Medicare Special Needs Plans, Medicare Part D cost-sharing, extension of Medicaid waivers, and the newly created Office on Coordination of Benefits. National Council President & CEO Linda Rosenberg called healthcare reform a “game changer” in her recent interview with Behavioral Healthcare. Click here to read Linda’s interview, which covered healthcare reform’s likely impact on service delivery, funding, integration, and collaboration. Additional resources on healthcare reform implementation are available on the Healthcare Reform page of our website.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services this month has released a number of new resources on healthcare reform:
- Regulatory guidance to insurers, employers, and consumers on letting young people remain on their parents’ insurance up to age 26
- Regulations outlining how the government will assist employers with insurance coverage of early retirees
- A letter to Congress from HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius outlining HHS’s progress to date on health reform implementation efforts
Members of Congress Voice Strong Support for Parity Regulations; National Council Speaks Out for Consumers in the New York Times
Facing pushback from some insurers and employers on regulations for the implementation of the Wellstone-Domenici Parity Law, 8 Representatives and 3 Senators have written letters to the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury expressing their strong support for the regulations and outlining key clarifications that could further improve them. The National Council, as part of the Parity Implementation Coalition, has also submitted comments in support of the regulations. Following a recent New York Times article detailing some groups’ opposition to the parity regulations, National Council President & CEO Linda Rosenberg wrote a letter to the editor reminding readers of the impact that discriminatory coverage policies have on individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders. Her letter, published in the May 10th edition, reads:
To the Editor:
Your article does not account for the very real ramifications of differences between people in need of mental health services and insurers. Passage of parity legislation was preceded by hundreds of hours of public testimony by individuals and families who were denied access to mental health and addiction treatment. Denial resulted in suicide, incarceration and much needless suffering. The current fight over parity foreshadows the larger health care reform implementation battle; the outcome will determine if parity and health care reform result in meaningful access to care, or just business as usual for the insurance industry.
The National Council will continue to keep you updated on the progress of parity implementation; stay tuned to the Public Policy Update and the Parity page of our website for the latest resources and information.
New Veterans’ Health Law Includes Provision for Peer Counseling and Readjustment Services in Community Behavioral Health Organizations
On May 5, President Obama signed into law the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-163). Among other improvements to veterans’ health programs, the law includes a new program to provide readjustment and mental health care services to veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Sec. 306 states that “the Secretary shall contract with community mental health centers and other qualified entities to provide the services required,” which include peer outreach services, peer support services, readjustment counseling, and other mental health services for veterans. In addition, participating centers must provide veterans’ family members with education, counseling, and services to assist in the veterans’ readjustment to civilian life and recovery from any illness, injury, or trauma encountered during deployment. Moreover, the law specifies that where possible, participating centers should use telehealth technology for the delivery of these services and employ veterans as peer counselors. The new program will include training of veterans for the provision of peer-outreach and peer-support services and training of clinicians in the unique needs of veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
President Obama and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), on Tuesday announced the release of the Administration’s National Drug Control Strategy. Aimed at reducing drug use and strengthening prevention, treatment and law enforcement, the strategy calls for a 15-percent reduction in the rate of youth drug use over 5 years and similar reductions in chronic drug use and drug-related incidents such as drug deaths and drugged driving. To accomplish this, the strategy aims to:
- Strengthen efforts to prevent drug use in communities and seek early intervention
- Integrate treatment for substance use disorders into health care
- Expand support for recovery
- Break the cycle of drug use, crime, delinquency, and incarceration
- Disrupt domestic drug trafficking and production
- Improve information systems for analysis, assessment, and local management
The National Council strongly supports ONDCP’s efforts to expand substance use treatment for offenders and improve community prevention and early intervention. A summary of the new National Drug Control Strategy and additional resources are available on the ONDCP website.
According to an amendment to federal sentencing policy issued by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, judges may depart from sentencing guidelines in order to refer offenders with alcohol and other drug problems to addiction treatment or other alternatives to incarceration. The amendment informs courts that departures from the guidelines may be warranted in situations where an offender's criminal activity is related to a treatment issue such as drug or alcohol abuse or significant mental illness, and sentencing options such as home or community confinement or intermittent confinement would serve a specific treatment purpose. The amendment was submitted to Congress on May 1; it will go into effect on Nov. 1 unless Congress votes to block its implementation.
Beginning in June 2010, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will be conducting the 2010 National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS). Previously conducted in 2008 as the National Survey of Mental Health Treatment Facilities (NSMHTF), the N-MHSS will collect statistical information to provide a current picture of mental health treatment utilization throughout the nation so that the mental health provider community and decision-makers have the latest data available for planning and allocating needed resources. Your participation is important to the success of this nationwide survey, and will help ensure that mental health treatment availability in your area is accurately represented. The information collected will also be used to update the Mental Health Facility Locator, which can be found on SAMHSA’s online Mental Health Services Locator. The Facility Locator is a vital tool for mental health consumers, their families, and mental health professionals in locating needed mental health treatment services. Facilities that participate in the N-MHSS have the option of being listed in the Facility Locator free of charge.
The National Council supports this valuable data collection effort, and when your facility is contacted, we strongly encourage your participation. For more information about the N-MHSS, please visit http://info.nmhss.org.
Already registered online and booked your hotel room for Hill Day? Here's what else you should do to get ready:
- Start scheduling your appointments with your elected officials. Meeting with your elected representatives in Washington is one of the key components of Hill Day. Need help? Check out our Guide to Scheduling Your Meetings, our sample written meeting request, and additional tips and advice. Once you set up your meetings, please enter them on your registration profile – just return to the registration tool, log in using your email address, and click “Add New Meeting” in the upper right column to fill in the details.
- Register for one of our "Get Ready for Hill Day" webinars. We’ll be offering the same webinar on two different days so you can attend the one that fits best with your schedule: June 3 (1:00-2:30 p.m. eastern time) and June 15 (3:00-4:30 eastern time). Register for the webinar today, and get ready to learn about our policy agenda for Hill Day, what to expect during your Hill visits, the top 3 things you should mention at every Hill visit, the schedule of events for June 29th and 30th, and much more!
