Archive: Addictions

Stephanie Pellitt

Policy Associate, National Council for Behavioral Health

On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee reviewed remaining opioid legislation to be included in a large package aimed at addressing the opioid crisis, an effort which began last week in the full Committee. The Committee approved 32 bills, a week after approving another 25 opioid measures, bringing the total up to 57. Bills that advanced this week include provisions to loosen both the Institution for Mental Disease (IMD) rule on residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and privacy rules governing SUD treatment records, promote best practices for recovery housing and to ensure mental health and SUD parity in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

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Shelley Starkey

On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held its first of two hearings to consider a large package of legislation aimed at addressing the opioid crisis. The full Committee approved 25 of the 56 bills that had advanced from the Health Subcommittee, and is slated to review the remaining legislation next week with the hopes of advancing a comprehensive package to the House floor by Memorial Day. Bills that advanced this week included efforts to expand: telemedicine prescribing for medication-assisted treatment, student loan forgiveness for addiction treatment professionals and use of electronic health records by behavioral health providers.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy Associate, National Council for Behavioral Health

On Monday, April 23, the National Council for Behavioral Health published the first-ever policy guide for expanding quality recovery housing entitled Building Recovery: State Policy Guide for Supporting Recovery Housing. It calls on states to adopt recovery housing quality standards, establish a certification program and support recovery residences as they work to meet nationally-recognized standards. In the guide, the National Council recommends concrete policies and practices that policymakers can enact to strengthen the road to recovery from addiction.

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Shelley Starkey

On Monday, President Trump unveiled his plan to put a stop to the opioid epidemic that claims thousands of American lives every year. The President’s plan addresses multiple contributing factors including: reducing over-prescribing of opioid pain killers, cutting off illicit drug supplies, improving access to evidence-based treatment and recovery services, and ramping up prevention efforts. It is unclear whether Congress will appropriate funding for these initiatives, as both chambers are currently considering their own strategies. 

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy Associate, National Council for Behavioral Health

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee convened a hearing on potential solutions to address the opioid epidemic on Wednesday. The hearing featured testimony from National Council member, Richard Nance, who presented recommendations for improving access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the gold standard of opioid addiction treatment, via telemedicine. The hearing was the first of three hearings devoted to crafting a broad legislative package to curb the use of prescription and illicit opioids.

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Katiri Zuluaga

Manager, State Initiatives

Indiana is now the second state to receive approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a waiver request that imposes work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries to maintain coverage. Indiana’s Section 1115 waiver also enacts a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Program which will include coverage for residential treatment in Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) and will increase premiums for beneficiaries who use tobacco and are not engaged in tobacco cessation activities. The National Council for Behavioral Health strongly opposes work requirements and any attempts to restrict access to needed behavioral health services.

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Shelley Starkey

The White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) faces a second threat of losing 95 percent of its budget under President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2019 proposal, according to Politico. Defunding ONDCP would directly contradict the Administration’s declaration of the opioid crisis as a public health emergency, as the office is responsible for coordinating the federal response to the crisis. The National Council opposes this proposal, and will continue to work to ensure proper funding for this important office.

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Katiri Zuluaga

Manager, State Initiatives

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey results highlighting historic lows of cigarette, heroin and methamphetamine use and increases in vaping and marijuana use among adolescents. The study surveyed over 47,000 students in 8th, 10th and 12th grade in both public and private schools nationwide on their substance use and attitudes towards particular drugs.

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Shelley Starkey

On Monday, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rolled out a bundle of new resources and initiatives that aim to address the ongoing opioid crisis. These new tools and initiatives are part of an obligation under the 21st Century Cures Act to ensure that the public understands the implications of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

On Wednesday, the Partnership for Medicaid, a coalition that includes the National Council, hosted a Congressional briefing on the importance of Medicaid in supporting innovative addiction care. The day’s discussion focused on how Medicaid provides individuals with substance use disorders access to comprehensive care that not only addresses their addiction, but their physical and mental health needs. The briefing featured testimony from National Council member Mark Miller of Swope Health Services, who highlighted how Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) are leading the way in behavioral health care innovation and expanding access to addiction treatment.

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Shelley Starkey

Last week, Representative Bob Latta (R-OH), along with three Republican cosponsors, introduced a bill that would create a public electronic database of information and strategies to combat the opioid crisis. The Indexing Narcotics, Fentanyl and Opioids (INFO) Act (H.R. 4284) would create a position of Federal Coordinator within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to oversee the implementation and coordination of this public database in partnership with other government agencies.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

On Wednesday, 16 health care payers representing more than 245 million lives adopted eight National Principles of Care for the treatment of addiction. As a result, the payers have agreed to identify, promote and reward substance use disorder treatment that aligns with the National Principles of Care. The principles emphasize universal screening, personalized treatment planning and access to evidence-based treatment and recovery support services. This initiative is part of the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Task Force, launched in April 2017 by Shatterproof and includes the National Council as a member.

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Shelley Starkey

In September, Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) introduced a bill that would expand access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders. The Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act (H.R.3692) would allow new provider types to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication utilized in MAT, and would increase the number of patients that qualified physicians could treat.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

On Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a letter to State Medicaid Directors outlining a new waiver process to allow Medicaid payment of a broad range of services for opioid and other substance use disorders (SUD), including residential treatment. The letter, issued in response to President Trump’s declaration of an opioid public health emergency, promises states a “more flexible, streamlined” 1115 Medicaid waiver approval process to accelerate state’s ability to respond to the opioid epidemic. While this move could present an opportunity for states to expand their continuum of care for addiction, strict budget neutrality requirements and heightened state reporting requirements may prove too burdensome for states to realistically pursue this option.

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Shelley Starkey

Last week, Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the “Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act.” The bill calls for Congress to invest $45 billion toward prevention, detection, surveillance, and treatment of opioid addiction. This legislation seeks to combat an epidemic that took the lives of over 33,000 Americans in 2015. The National Council applauds the Senators for their leadership on this issue, and looks forward to supporting their efforts to see this bill through Congress.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

Earlier today, President Trump officially declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. While the National Council is pleased to see the President recognize the opioid crisis as a public health emergency, today’s announcement comes without any new funding to respond to the epidemic and the specifics of the declaration are still unclear.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

The House Energy and Commerce Committee convened a hearing to review the federal government’s response to the opioid epidemic on Wednesday. Lawmakers sought a status update on the implementation of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), the 21st Century Cures Act, and various grant initiatives and from the heads of the top agency leads within the Department of Health and Human Services. The hearing reflected a bipartisan consensus that more resources are needed to tackle a disease that claims the lives of 91 Americans every day.

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Stephanie Pellitt

Policy and Advocacy Associate

On Tuesday, West Virginia received approval from the federal government to expand addiction treatment services covered by Medicaid to include residential treatment, methadone, naloxone, and more. The waiver is intended to provide Medicaid enrollees with a more comprehensive array of addiction services and to prevent opioid overdose deaths. West Virginia is the first state to receive approval from the Trump administration to waive an important payment barrier to residential addiction treatment, known as the IMD exclusion.

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Shelley Starkey

Project Assistant

On Monday, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act (S.1850). This bill would alter the way substance use treatment records are shared among providers, further aligning the privacy rules and protections with those outlined in HIPAA. The bill closely mirrors legislation introduced in the House earlier this summer by Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA).

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Malka Berro

Behavioral Health Policy and Practice Intern

On Monday, September 25th, the Congressional Bipartisan Heroin Task Force held a roundtable discussion on the role of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP) in combatting the opioid epidemic. The roundtable — led by task force co-chairs Reps. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) and Annie Kuster (D-NH) — received insights from two industry professionals on the importance of PDMPs.

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