NABH Introduces Denial-of-Care Portal for Members

NABH this week introduced the NABH Denial-of-Care Portal, a resource for members to provide information about their experiences with managed care organizations that impose barriers to care through insurance-claim denials.

NABH’s Managed Care Committee has worked for more than a year to develop the Denial-of-Care Portal as a way to collect specific data on insurers who deny care—often without regard for parity or the effects on patients.

This NABH member-only, survey-like tool allows users to add the name of a managed care organization, type of plan, level of care, type of care (mental health or substance use disorder), duration of approved treatment, duration of unapproved treatment, criteria used to deny a claim, and more.

The portal allows members to submit individual examples of claim denials or upload multiple entries via Excel. It also includes sections on appeals and physician participation. In time, the tool could be a valuable resource for the NABH team’s advocacy efforts.

“One of the best ways we can advocate for parity enforcement with policymakers and regulators is to provide hard data from our members that show how insurers are not complying with the landmark 2008 parity law,” said NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin. “We hope to gather this critical data through our new Denial-of-Care Portal.”

Please e-mail Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.

LifePoint Health to Acquire Kindred Healthcare

Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health and Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare announced they have entered into an agreement for LifePoint to acquire Kindred in a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The deal will provide LifePoint with opportunities to “develop and expand critical behavioral health services across the country,” the companies said in a joint news release.

LifePoint owns and operates community hospitals, regional health systems, physician practices, outpatient centers, and post-acute facilities nationwide, while Kindred is a specialty hospital company that delivers acute health services in long-term, acute-care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, acute rehabilitation units, and its behavioral health line business, all of which specialize in treating the most medically complex patients.

Kindred Behavioral Health is an NABH member.

SAMHSA Distributes $3.3 Million in Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grants

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released $3.3 million in grant awards to 33 colleges through the agency’s Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention grant program.

The program is named after former Sen. Gordon Smith’s (R-Ore.) son Garrett Lee Smith, who died by suicide at age 21 in 2003. In 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which authorized $82 million for suicide-prevention and awareness programs at the nation’s colleges.

The Biden administration is strengthening the program through American Rescue Plan of 2021 funding, which enables SAMHSA to expand the program’s reach by eight colleges.

“This grant program provides crucial support to college and university communities at a critical time,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Tom Coderre said in an announcement. “Pre-pandemic, college had already been a time and environment where young adults often experienced the onset or worsening of mental health problems,” he added. “The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health crises for adolescents and young adults. We want this grant program to provide needed supports to as many students as possible, and we are grateful for the infusion of American Rescue Plan funding to strengthen that support.”

DEA to Publish Mobile Methadone Rule on June 28

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced it will publish the final “mobile methadone” rule on Monday, June 28.

The final rule will allow narcotic treatment programs (NTPs) to operate mobile components as a coincident activity permitted under the NTP’s registration. Based on these revisions, NTP registrants who operate mobile component to dispense narcotic drugs in schedules II-V at remote location(s) for maintenance or detoxification treatment do not need a separate registration for such mobile components.

This final rule waives the requirement of a separate registration at each principal place of business or professional practice where controlled substances are dispensed. Operation is permitted only in the state where the registrant is registered.

LaBelle Says Biden Administration Supports Legislation to Eliminate Federal Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity

Regina LaBelle, the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, testified in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week that the Biden administration supports legislation that would eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine, which she said disproportionately affects people of color.

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act (EQUAL) in late January. The bill aims to eliminate the crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity and ensure that those who were convicted or sentenced for a federal offense involving cocaine can receive a re-sentencing under the new law.

NBC News reported that LaBelle told the Senate panel that “The current disparity is not based on evidence; it has caused significant harm for decades, particularly for individuals, families and communities of color,” and is “a significant injustice in our legal system.”

OSHA Releases Fact Sheet and Guidance on Covid-19 Healthcare ETS

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) this week released a fact sheet about OSHA’s Covid-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that was published in the Federal Register this month.

OSHA also published additional guidance and implementation information about the ETS. To learn more about the ETS, please see the June 11 edition of CEO Update.

CMS Publishes Frequently Asked Questions on Interoperability and Patient Access Rule

CMS published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on various topics related to the agency’s May 2020 Interoperability and Patient Access final rule.

The FAQs include additional guidance about the Admission, Discharge, and Transfer Patient Event Notification Conditions of Participation that apply to America’s psychiatric hospitals.

DEA Hires McCance-Katz as Legislative Policy Analyst

Elinore McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., who served as the assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Trump administration, is now a senior civil servant in the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

DEA has hired McCance-Katz as a legislative policy analyst focused on drug diversion, or the illegal use of drugs. According to reports, officials said the role is GS-15, the highest level under the federal General Schedule, and it positions McCance-Katz to help shape the Biden administration’s strategy on drug enforcement.

President Biden’s nominee to run DEA, former New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, is still awaiting Senate confirmation.

Registration Now Open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.

Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Since 9/11, four times as many U.S. service members and veterans have died by suicides than have been killed in combat, according to a new report from Brown University.

CEO Update Will Publish Next on Friday, July 9

NABH will not publish CEO Update next Friday, July 2 and will publish the next issue on Friday, July 9.

The NABH team wishes you and your families a happy and safe Independence Day weekend!

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

SAMHSA Awards Grant to Vibrant Emotional Health to Administer 988 Crisis Hotline

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) this week announced Vibrant Emotional Health will be the administrators for the new 988 dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline that will be available in July 2022.

A pair of SAMHSA grants totaling $48 million—including $32 million in Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act 2021 funding—will finance the effort to use technology to help Americans in mental health crisis and save lives. Vibrant has administered the lifeline since it was created in 2005.

“These grants will work to expand the nation’s call centers’ capacity and technological readiness as the Lifeline’s shift to 988 becomes operational next summer,” Tom Coderre, acting assistant secretary for mental health and substance use and the interim head of SAMHSA, said in announcement. “Until that launch, we ask anyone who needs help or who has a loved one at risk of suicide to call or chat with Lifeline operators at 1-800-273-8255.”

Senate Finance Committee Examines Integrated Payment Models for Primary and Mental Healthcare

The Senate Finance Committee this week held a hearing to discuss mental healthcare in America and payment models that integrate mental health with primary care.

In his prepared statement, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said every American who needs mental healthcare should have it, “but the shameful reality is, the United States does not come close to meeting that bar today. Multiple federal laws say that mental healthcare is supposed to be on a level playing field with physical health care,” Wyden’s statement continued. “In practice, however, the system still reflects the dangerous, old stigma against recognizing and treating mental illness, and that’s why millions of people are falling through the cracks.”

Members of the influential Senate panel heard from the executive director of the Wallowa Valley Center for Wellness Clinic in Oregon, one of the state’s dozen Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, which provides same-day treatment to patients through an integrated primary and mental healthcare model. A Modern Healthcare story reported that while the funding for the model—which comes from an enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rate based on expected costs of care—is not permanent, emergency department admissions for mental health in Wallowa County is down and the amount of veterans accessing behavioral healthcare is up 300% since the demonstration began.

NABH and Other Healthcare Groups Send Letter to United Healthcare About ED Policy

NABH was one of more than 30 healthcare and medical organizations this week that sent a letter to United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson about the insurance company’s new policy to allow for the retroactive denial of coverage for emergency care in hospital emergency departments (EDs).

The new policy will have serious medical consequences for patients, and the groups requested that United rescind the policy permanently.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for access to mental healthcare and substance use services was reaching crisis levels,” the letter said. “In 2019, less than half of adults with mental health conditions received services, and nearly 90% of those with a substance use disorder did not receive treatment. EDs around the country often serve as the only safety net for a fragmented mental health infrastructure,” it continued. “For those in crisis for whom the ED is a lifeline for care, an added threat of a retroactive denial of coverage under this policy can be devastating.”

Other groups that signed the letter include the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the Emergency Nurses Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, The Kennedy Forum, and the Well Being Trust.

SAMHSA to Host Webinar on Behavioral Health Disorders and the Criminal Justice System on July 6

SAMHSA will host a webinar about strategies to create community-based crisis systems for people with behavioral health disorders who are at risk for involvement with the criminal justice system.

The webinar will be held Tuesday, July 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

Register Today for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.

Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

In a new study of nearly 43,000 adults who responded to a national survey on drug and alcohol use in 2019, researchers found that roughly 6% had alcohol use disorder, fewer than 10% of whom reported receiving any treatment for their condition. The authors suggest the findings highlight the need for more even access to medication for alcohol use disorder.

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

OSHA Releases Covid-19 Workplace Safety Rule for Healthcare Workers

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Thursday released a workplace safety rule intended to protect workers from exposure to SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

Called an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), the rule applies only to workers in healthcare settings, a disappointment for unions and other workplace safety advocates.

Essential requirements of the ETS include, but are not limited to: developing and implementing a plan for each workplace; designating workplace safety coordinator(s), knowledgeable in infection control principles and practices, with the authority to implement, monitor, and ensure compliance with the plan; conducting a workplace-specific hazard assessment; and seeking the involvement of nonmanagerial employees and their representatives in the hazard assessment and plan’s development and implementation.

The ETS also includes requirements about personal protective equipment, physical distancing, cleaning and disinfection, training, vaccination, ventilation, and more.

Click here for more information in OSHA’s summary of the rule.

Senators Murphy and Cassidy Introduce The Parity Implementation Assistance Act

Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) this week introduced The Parity Implementation Assistance Act to offer incentives to states to comply with mental health parity requirements.

The bill would authorize $25 million in grants for states to support their oversight efforts of health insurance plans’ compliance with parity. The new legislation builds on the Murphy-Cassidy Mental Health Parity Compliance Act of 2019, which became law last year and provided federal and state health insurance regulators with additional resources to monitor and assure compliance with mental health parity laws.

U.S. Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) are introducing a companion bill in the House.

“We applaud Senators Murphy and Cassidy and Representatives Cárdenas and Fitzpatrick for their continued leadership and steadfast commitment to improving compliance with MHPAEA,” NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin said in the senators’ joint news release about the bill this week. “The Parity Implementation Assistance Act would provide critically needed resources to state regulators so they can improve parity enforcement using the new documentation requirements,” he added.

Americans Identify Affordability and Provider Availability as Biggest Barriers to Accessing Care

A new Bipartisan Policy Center-Morning Consult national poll found that 51% of Americans surveyed cited affordability and 41% cited availability of providers taking new patients as the two biggest barriers to accessing the care they need.

Meanwhile, a majority of Americans (58%) said the cost of a provider and whether the provider is in their insurance network (58%) are their top priorities when seeking treatment.

“This survey shows that we must tackle the high cost and the enormous shortage of mental health professionals in our country by advancing the integration of primary care and mental health and substance use services,” Marilyn Serafini, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s health project director, said in an announcement about the poll. “We know integrated care works. It enhances treatment, improves outcomes, and is cost effective.”

MHA Names Schroeder Stribling as New President and CEO 

Mental Health America this week named Schroeder Stribling as the community-based, not-for-profit’s new president and CEO, effective June 28.

Stribling will start her new role after 18 years at N Street Village, a not-for-profit that provides housing support services for women and families in Washington, D.C.  Most recently Stribling served as N Street Village’s CEO and helped the organization expand to eight locations from one. She also helped diversify revenue streams, create partnerships with government entities, and lead city-wide initiatives on homelessness.

Before her time at N Street Village, Stribling was a senior social worker at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital, where she was responsible for implementing new mental health programs in the inner-city Head Start school system. Stribling earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wellesley College, a master’s degree in social work from Smith College, and a certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University.

Forbes Reports Venture Funding for Mental Health Hits Record High

Venture investors poured a record $1.5 billion into mental health startups in 2020, as 42% of U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, compared with about 11% who reported those symptoms in 2019, according to a recent article in Forbes.

The article notes there are now seven mental health unicorns in the United States, up from only two a year ago. In venture capital, a unicorn is a privately held company valued at more than $1 billion. Forbes identifies the U.S.-based mental health unicorns as Genoa ($2.5 billion), Lyra Health ($2.3 billion), Calm ($2 billion), BetterUp ($1.7 billion), Talkspace ($1.4 billion), Modern Health ($1.4 billion), and Ginger ($1.1 billion).

“I hope that the interest in mental health is now persistent,” Lisa Suennen, a healthcare investor who leads the venture fund at law firm and consultancy Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said in the article. Suennen added that both the funding surge and ballooning valuations concern her. “Some of these valuations are beyond appropriate given the underlying fundamentals,” Suennen said. “And that’s not unique to mental health, that’s digital health across the board right now.”

AMA and Advocacy Resource Center Highlight National and State Research on America’s Overdose Crisis

The American Medical Association and Advocacy Resource Center have released a nearly 30-page issue brief that aggregates data on the nation’s drug overdose crisis from national, state, and local public health agencies, law enforcement, emergency medical services, hospitals, treatment centers, journals, and the media.

Every state has reported an increase in overdose deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the issue brief.

HRSA Announces New Education Loan Repayment Program 

The U.S. Health Department’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced a new loan repayment program that broadens the types of providers and facilities that are eligible to participate and provides a higher rate of repayment.
 
The STAR-LRP will provide repayment of education loans for individuals working in a full-time substance-use disorder (SUD) treatment job that involves direct patient care at a STAR LRP-approved facility located in either a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designated for Mental Health, or a county/municipality where the average drug overdose death rate exceeds the national average.

Participants will receive up to $250,000 in exchange for six years of full-time SUD employment (including fellowship) that involves direct treatment or recovery support of patients with or in recovery from a substance use disorder.

The program expands access to SUD treatment through the inclusion of disciplines and treatment facilities that are not eligible for existing loan repayment programs. The STAR-LRP is open to master’s level social workers, psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychiatric mental health practitioners, occupational therapists, psychology doctoral interns, and behavioral health paraprofessionals and physicians, physician assistants, and nurses, who are involved full-time in SUD treatment employment (including fellowships).

Among the eligible facilities are for-profit programs, including but not limited to inpatient psychiatric facilities, inpatient rehabilitation, non-opioid SUD Treatment facilities, opioid treatment programs, office-based opioid treatment, outpatient rehabilitation.

HRSA anticipates making $28 million available to fund approximately 112 loan repayment awards in FY 2021. Applications are due by July 22, 2021, 7:30 p.m. ET.

DOJ Accepting Applications for Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program Training and Technical Assistance Program

The U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs and Bureau of Justice Assistance will accept grant applications for its Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) Training and Technical Assistance Program through Monday, June 21.

The program’s purpose is to identify one provider to support a collaborative team and coordinate training and technical assistance for state, tribal, and local criminal justice and substance abuse treatment agencies and their partner agencies for more than 400 COSSAP site-based programs.

Click here to learn more and to apply.

Registration Now Open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.

Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Nearly one in four older U.S. adults between the ages of 50 and 80 reported they had three or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting, according to a new poll from the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging.

President Biden’s $6 Trillion Budget Proposal Includes Funding Increases for SAMHSA

President Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal for 2022 includes significant funding increases for several Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) programs, including a $1.65 billion increase—including 10% set aside for recovery services—for the agency’s Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Block Grant for a total of about $3.51 billion in that program.

The president’s budget—notable for mapping out the president’s priorities—also includes:

• An $825-million funding increase for SAMHSA’s Community Mental Health Services Block Grant for a total of $1.58 billion, with $75 million set aside for crisis-stabilization services,

• $750-million increase in State Opioid Response grants for a total of $2.25 billion,

• An additional $125 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics,

• A $78-million increase for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for a total of $102 million to prepare for the nation’s “988” behavioral health crisis hotline, and

• $4.4-million increase for opioid treatment programs for a total of $13.1 million.

The budget also includes a $27-million increase for the U.S. Labor Department’s Employee Benefits and Security Administration to enforce the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

CMCS Releases Bulletin on American Rescue Plan’s Medicaid, CHIP, and BHP Provisions

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) this week released a bulletin that provides information to states on the Medicaid, CHIP, and Basic Health Program (BHP) provisions in the American Rescue Plan.

Part of the guidance includes section 9813, the “State Option to Provide Qualifying Community-Based Mobile Crisis Intervention Services,” which adds a new section to the Social Security Act and provides states the option to provide for certain “qualifying community-based mobile crisis intervention services” to be covered under the Medicaid state plan or a waiver of such plan during a five-year period beginning on April 1, 2022.

In addition, the bulletin said states will be eligible for a federal matching rate of 85% for qualifying community-based mobile crisis intervention services during each of the first 12 fiscal quarters between April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2027, in which a state meets the requirements in the statute. This provision also provides funding for the HHS secretary to issue planning grants to states to develop state plan amendments or waiver requests to provide such qualifying community-based mobile crisis intervention services.

CMCS said it plans to issue additional guidance in the coming months on certain provisions and is available to provide states with technical assistance as they begin to implement these changes.

EEOC Releases Updated Guidance Regarding Covid-19 Vaccinations, Incentives

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released its first updated guidance about Covid-19 vaccinations since December 2020.

The new guidance addresses mandatory vaccination policies, employer-provided vaccine incentives, confidentiality, and accommodating workers who may be unwilling or unable to obtain a vaccination.

Click here to read a summary of the provisions.

National Guard Officers to Provide Temporary Staffing at Oregon State Hospital

The Oregon State Hospital will begin training 30 members of the National Guard on Monday to fill an unprecedented staffing shortage at the Salem-based psychiatric hospital, according to a news report in The Oregonian.

National Guard members will spend about two weeks learning how to work directly with patients, including training on de-escalation and behavioral emergencies. The story noted that the National Guard will help serve patient meals, escort patients to and from treatment, and with other activities on the unit.

The state hospital has faced a staffing shortage since last year when employees began taking Covid-19-related leave.

Kennedy Forum to Host June 7 Webinar on Future of Mental Healthcare

The Kennedy Forum will feature Mental Health America CEO Paul Gionfriddo and National Alliance on Mental Illness CEO Daniel Gillison, Jr. in a webinar about the future of mental healthcare on Monday, June 7.

Other panelists will include Kennedy Forum founder and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.); Peter O’Brien, chairman of The Kennedy Forum Illinois; and Cheryl Potts, executive director at The Kennedy Forum Illinois.

The webinar will begin at 2 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

DOJ Accepting Applications for Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program Training and Technical Assistance Program

The U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs and Bureau of Justice Assistance will accept grant applications for its Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) Training and Technical Assistance Program through Monday, June 21.

The program’s purpose is to identify one provider to support a collaborative team and coordinate training and technical assistance for state, tribal, and local criminal justice and substance abuse treatment agencies and their partner agencies for more than 400 COSSAP site-based programs.

Click here to learn more and to apply.

Registration Now Open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.

Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

New research from Athenahealth shows women were twice as likely as men to receive a diagnosis of anxiety from their primary care provider (6.5% versus 3.3%), and were also diagnosed with depression at twice the rate (4.2% versus 2.1%).

For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.

NABH Submits Comments on IPF-PPS FY 2022 Proposed Rule

NABH on Friday submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the agency’s inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) prospective payment system (PPS) proposed rule for fiscal year 2022.

The eight-page letter provided an overview of how the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increasing need for quality mental health and addiction treatment in America, and how previous pandemics have had an effect on behavioral health for years to come.

NABH offered comments on labor market delineations, the wage index, and several issues related to the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program.

CMS will accept public comments until Monday, June 7.

U.S. Senate Confirms Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as CMS Administrator

In a 55-44 vote, the U.S. Senate this week confirmed Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to lead CMS as the agency’s administrator.

Most recently Brooks-LaSure served as the managing director of the health division at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Previously she served as the director of coverage policy at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) during the Obama administration, where she led implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage and insurance reform policy provisions.

Earlier, the Senate Finance Committee had split evenly on whether to advance Brooks-LaSure’s nomination, with all Republicans on the panel not supporting her. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was able to bring her nomination vote to the Senate floor through a procedural vote.

HHS Commits $4.8 Billion to Reimburse Providers for Covid-19 Testing for the Uninsured

HHS this week announced it will dedicate $4.8 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Covid-19 Uninsured Program. Specifically, the funding will allow the program to reimburse healthcare providers for testing uninsured individuals for Covid-19.

“As we vaccinate the country, let’s continue taking the preventive measures necessary to keep the virus under control and prevent it from spreading,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in an announcement. “Testing remains critical and now it’s available at no cost to those who need it,” he added. “This funding will help ensure everyone has access to testing regardless of whether they have health insurance.”

Click here to learn more about HRSA’s Covid-19 Uninsured Program.

NABH and Other National Organizations Urge Biden Administration to Name ONDCP Director

This week NABH coordinated an effort among several leading addiction treatment groups and other national organizations to send a letter urging President Biden to name a director to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

Regina LaBelle, on a leave of absence from her position as program director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at Georgetown’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, currently serves as the office’s acting director.

NABH and the other organizations—including the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, and the National Safety Council—expressed concern that a nominee to the post has not yet been named, especially when the Covid-19 global pandemic has accelerated the nation’s drug overdose deaths through a combination of treatment disruptions, social isolation, and other challenges.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s Statement of Drug Policy Priorities for Year One was a concise and focused document that clearly identified issues that need addressing,” the letter said. “An ONDCP director is now needed to implement, and build upon, those priorities for a nation that continues to be devastated by the preventable and treatable disease of addiction and drug overdoses.”

Politico wrote a story about the letter on May 27, calling it “the first notable sign of public pressure on Biden to fill the drug czar role, which he’s long supported.”

NABH and Other Mental Health and Addiction Groups Urge Congress to Fund 988 Hotline Infrastructure

NABH was one of more than two dozen mental health and addiction organizations that sent a letter to congressional leaders, requesting that Congress provide funding to build the needed infrastructure to support the nation’s 988 crisis hotline.

In its letter to the majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate, the organizations recommend that Congress, at a minimum, invest $10 billion in a 988 crisis hotline infrastructure package.

“While there is a clear vision for what a successful 988 crisis response system requires, there are very few examples of systems that meet these standards,” the letter said. “Existing suicide prevention call centers rely on a patchwork of inadequate funding, leaving insufficient capacity to meet current needs, let alone the increased demand spurred by the adoption of 988,” it continued. “There is growing availability of mobile crisis teams, but demand still far outstrips supply, particularly for children and adolescents. And there is a nationwide dearth of crisis stabilization programs. Finally, there are widespread shortages of behavioral health professionals to staff crisis response systems.”

The groups noted that the funding could provide for technology, training, and operations at crisis call centers; expand capital projects to include crisis receiving and stabilization and peer respite programs; broaden federal loan repayment criteria to include crisis call centers, mobile crisis teams, crisis receiving and stabilization programs; and develop behavioral health workforce training programs.

Napolitano, Kaptur, Lee Urge HHS to Expand Mental Health Workforce

NABH recently supported a letter from three House Democrats who are urging HHS to include mental health and substance use treatment providers within the $7.6 billion public health workforce expansion included in the American Rescue Plan.
 
In their May 21 letter to HHS, Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) wrote that a section of the new law can support about 100,000 new positions. The congresswomen—with support from other Democrats—recommend that one-third of those positions be devoted to behavioral health.

“This number would permit each small county to add five behavioral health providers, each mid-sized county to add 10 providers, and each large county to add 20 providers,” they wrote. “County public health workers should also receive basic training for the screening of common mental health and substance use disorders, which would allow them to identify struggling Americans and refer them to services,” they added.

Click here to read the full letter.

New DOE Guidance on American Rescue Plan Funding for Schools Includes Mental Health

The U.S. Education Department (ED) recently released a set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about how funding under the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, including the American Rescue Plan’s ESSER program, and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, may be used to address the pandemic’s effects on students in pre-K-12 education.

The FAQ mentions mental health services throughout the document and includes providing “positive behavioral interventions and supports and mental health services for children with disabilities” and “meeting rising mental health and behavioral needs (for example, contracting with community mental health providers to support students virtually and/or on-site at school).”

Members of the NABH team have had recent discussions with the ED staff and discussed several items outlined in the guidance.

AHRQ Seeking Information on Evaluation of Mental Health Applications

HHS’ Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking scientific information to help inform the agency’s review on Evaluation of Mental Health Applications, which AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice Centers Program is conducting.

The federal notice said access to both published and unpublished pertinent, scientific information will improve the quality of the review.

Submissions are due 30 days from the May 21 notice. Click here to learn more.

NABH President and CEO Highlights IMD Repeal in LinkedIn Pulse Article

As Mental Health Month draws to a close, NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin this week reflected on improving America’s approach to mental healthcare in part by repealing Medicaid’s outdated Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion.

In a LinkedIn Pulse article, Coughlin provided an overview of the IMD exclusion and highlighted congressional leaders who are working to solve this issue: Reps. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.). Emmer has re-introduced Expanding Access to Inpatient Mental Health Act, which would eliminate the IMD exclusion’s arbitrary cap on mental health services. Specifically, it would eliminate the 15-day cap for Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Prepaid Inpatient Health Plan (PIHP) beneficiaries receiving care in an IMD.

Meanwhile, Napolitano’s Increasing Behavioral Health Treatment Act would repeal the IMD exclusion and  require states to submit a plan to: increase access to outpatient and community-based behavioral health care; increase availability of crisis stabilization services; and improve data sharing and coordination between physical health, mental health, and addiction treatment providers and first responders.

“Efforts such as these,” Coughlin wrote, “could ensure Medicaid beneficiaries finally receive the professionally guided care they deserve, and we can ensure that clinicians, not artificial restrictions, govern mental healthcare for all Americans.”

Kennedy Forum to Host June 7 Webinar on Future of Mental Healthcare

The Kennedy Forum will feature Mental Health America CEO Paul Gionfriddo and National Alliance on Mental Illness CEO Daniel Gillison, Jr. in a webinar about the future of mental healthcare on Monday, June 7.

Other panelists will include Kennedy Forum founder and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.); Peter O’Brien, chairman of The Kennedy Forum Illinois; and Cheryl Potts, executive director at The Kennedy Forum Illinois.

The webinar will begin at 2 p.m. ET. Click here to register.

Registration Now Open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

Registration is open for the NABH 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

We hope you join us as we recognize our meeting theme, Expanding Access: Right Care. Right Setting. Right Time.
Please visit our Annual Meeting webpage to register for the meeting and to reserve your hotel room. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!

Fact of the Week

A recent study of more than 2,800 U.S. coal miners showed that nearly 40% of these workers reported symptoms consistent with major depressive disorder and anxiety, while more than one in 10 reported actively thinking about suicide.
 
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.