SAMHSA to Distribute $3 Billion in Block Grants; Becerra Forms Behavioral Health Council

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) this week announced the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will distribute $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding, the largest aggregate funding amount to date for the agency’s mental health and substance use block grant programs.

According to HHS’ announcement, the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant Program and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program will disperse $1.5 billion each to states and territories. This funding amount follows a March announcement of supplemental funding of almost $2.5 billion for these programs. SAMHSA has expedited federal funding to grantees to help the nation’s communities manage their mental health and substance use needs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has formed a Behavioral Health Coordinating Council to collaborate what the department has described as “innovative, transparent, equitable, and action-oriented approaches” to addressing HHS’ behavioral health agenda. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, M.D. and HHS’ assistant secretary for mental health and substance use will serve as co-chairs of the new coordinating council, which is composed of senior leaders across the department. Tom Coderre currently serves as the acting assistant secretary for mental health and substance use.

“Behavioral health is a priority for the Department of Health and Human Services,” Becerra said in an announcement. “The Covid-19 pandemic has made clear the need to invest resources in our nation’s mental health and address the inequities that still exist around behavioral healthcare. That’s why we are making this historic investment in mental health and substance use services,” he added. “In addition, this national problem calls for department-wide coordination to address the issue. That’s why I am convening the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council to work across HHS to facilitate collaboration and strategic planning as we implement our behavioral health agenda.”

Also this week, HHS announced the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will disperse $14.2 million from the American Rescue Plan to expand pediatric mental healthcare access by integrating telehealth services into pediatric primary care. The funding will go toward Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) projects in new states and geographic areas nationwide and will provide teleconsultations, training, technical assistance, and care coordination for pediatric primary care providers to diagnose, treat and refer children and youth with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

CMS Data Show Vulnerable Americans Forgoing Mental Healthcare During Pandemic

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late last week released new findings that show Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries have forgone millions of primary, preventive, and mental healthcare visits from March 2020 through October 2020 compared with the same period in 2019.

The agency also reported that while some treatments have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, mental health services have been the slowest to pick up.

According to the data, there has been a 34-percent decline in the number of mental health services used by children under age 19, compared with the same time period in 2019, and a 22-percent decline in the number of mental health services used by adults aged 19 to 64, compared with the same time period in 2019. This translates to about 14 million fewer mental health services for children and approximately 12 million fewer mental health services for adults, for a total of nearly 26 million fewer mental health services used across both groups.

Meanwhile, although preliminary reports show increased drug-related mortality due to the pandemic, substance use disorder services utilization fell by 3.6 million services (a 13-percent decline) when compared with the same time period in 2019.

“More than 100 million Americans, including 43 million children, relied on us to deliver access to mental health and other services they needed through Medicaid and CHIP in 2020,” CMS Acting Administrator Liz Richter said in an announcement, adding that the new data provide a glimpse into how the pandemic has affected America’s most vulnerable people. “While we’re encouraged that people are accessing some healthcare services at pre-pandemic levels, there is work to do to connect people to mental healthcare services and to ensure we fill the gap in other types of services that was caused by the pandemic,” Richter said.

DOJ Accepting Applications for Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program Grants

The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) has announced that applications for its Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) are due June 21.

Developed in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), COSSAP is intended to reduce the effect of opioids, stimulants, and other substances on individuals and communities, including a reduction in the number of overdose fatalities. The program is also meant to mitigate the effects of crime victims by supporting collaborative initiatives.

Click here for more information about how to apply.

SAMHSA to Host Meth and OUD Webinar Next Week

SAMHSA will host a webinar next week to discuss recent trends in co-occurring methamphetamine use and opioid use disorder (OUD), including overdose fatalities.

The webinar, Meth 2.0 and Opioid Use Disorder—A Collision of Epidemics, will also address treatment approaches. Click here to register.

CMS to Host Quality Measurement Webinars Next Month

CMS will host CMS Quality Measurement: Where It’s Headed and How We’ll Get There, a webinar that will highlight the agency’s efforts to improve quality measures and provide information on available quality-measurement resources.

The webinar, which will be presented twice in June, will address CMS’ goals for advancing quality measurement in the next five to 10 years, and agency staff will provide an overview of the agency’s new Digital Quality Measurement Blueprint.

Click here to register for the June 15 webinar and here to register for the webinar on June 17.

Kennedy Forum to Host Parity Webinar Featuring U.S. Labor Secy. Martin Walsh on May 27

U.S. Labor Department (DOL) Secy. Martin Walsh will serve as a panelist during the Kennedy Forum’s webinar, “Mental Health Parity: Ending Discrimination in Health Insurance Coverage,” on Thursday, May 27.

The hourlong webinar will address a range of issues, including DOL’s role in enforcing the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; common parity violations and how they inhibit access to care; new statutory requirements requiring plans to conduct detailed parity analyses; and more.

Free for attendees, the webinar will also feature Kennedy Forum founder and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Ann Marie Sullivan, M.D., commissioner for New York’s Office of Mental Health.

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

The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Mental Health reports that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.

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

NABH and Other Healthcare Groups Urge HHS to Extend Provider Relief Fund Deadline

NABH and eight other healthcare associations this week urged the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to extend the June 30 deadline by which providers must use their Covid-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments.

Instead, the groups wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, HHS should use the length of the public health emergency as a guideline for providers to finish using the funds. The letter also requested that HHS expedite distributing the remaining PRF resources.

“Congress has allocated $178 billion to date to aid all types of health care providers through the PRF and designated in the most recent Covid-19 relief package an additional $8.5 billion through the Rural Relief Fund,” the letter noted. “However, not all of the funds have been distributed, and those that have may not yet have been fully utilized by the recipients,” it continued. “We previously noted the ongoing financial burden our members are facing; add to this the uncertainty regarding when the pandemic will ease more considerably to allow for a full return to “business as usual,” such as regular wellness visits and the resumption of scheduled surgeries,” the letter said, adding that the nation’s hospitals will continue to face challenges beyond the June 30 deadline.

Separately this week, Secy. Becerra signaled his department is considering it. “Some folks have asked for an extension,” Becerra was reported as saying during a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing. “We’re looking at that very, very closely.”

Biden Administration Plans to Open Applications for Billions in Provider Grants 

News outlets this week reported the Biden administration plans to open applications for billions of dollars in grants for hospitals and other healthcare providers before the end of May.

Hospitals have asked administration officials to release more of the funds that Congress approved in December 2020. To date, providers have been reimbursed for only a portion of their losses through June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the stories—which sourced people familiar with the plans—the next tranche of money will deplete most of the money in the $178 billion fund to help providers.

CMS Issues Guidance on Requirements Added to Medicare’s Conditions of Participation 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on May 7 released interpretive guidance on the new hospital admission, discharge, and transfer notification requirements that were added to the Medicare program’s Conditions of Participation.

The new rules became effective on May 1, 2021, after having been delayed because of the pandemic.

Overdose Prevention Network to Host Youth Engagement Discussion on May 26

The Overdose Prevention Network will host a 30-minute online discussion about how youth engagement and providing stability can play a meaningful role in supporting overdose prevention and providing connections to treatment.

Part of the organization’s “Meet the Partner” series, the “Saving Lives with Youth Engagement” session will feature Graciela Razo, harm reduction coordinator for Safe Horizon’s Streetwork Project in New York City.

Click here to learn more and register.

Kennedy Forum to Host Parity Webinar Featuring U.S. Labor Secy. Martin Walsh on May 27

U.S. Labor Department (DOL) Secy. Martin Walsh will serve as a panelist during the Kennedy Forum’s webinar, “Mental Health Parity: Ending Discrimination in Health Insurance Coverage,” on Thursday, May 27.

The hourlong webinar will address a range of issues, including DOL’s role in enforcing the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act; common parity violations and how they inhibit access to care; new statutory requirements requiring plans to conduct detailed parity analyses; and more.

Free for attendees, the webinar will also feature Kennedy Forum founder and former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Ann Marie Sullivan, M.D., commissioner for New York’s Office of Mental Health.

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 new study in JAMA found fatal drug overdoses in San Francisco increased by 50% during after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

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

May 7 is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

To honor National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day today, NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin published a LinkedIn Pulse article about the critical role that residential treatment plays in youth behavioral healthcare.

The article highlights Residential Treatment: A Vital Component of the Behavioral Healthcare Continuum, the white paper that NABH released in April. Please click here to visit our Youth Services webpage to download the paper and access shareable social media messages, especially during Mental Health Month throughout May.

Also for Mental Health Month, the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) this week released fact sheets to promote the role that Medicaid programs play in ensuring access to mental health and addiction treatment.

The first fact sheet shows how Medicaid supports crisis support systems, and the second resource highlights opportunities for Medicaid programs to provide addiction treatment.

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!

NABH Submits Comments to HHS on HIPAA Privacy Rules

NABH this week sent comments to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) about the office’s proposed rule, “Proposed Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support, and Remove Barriers to, Coordinated Care and Individual Engagement.”

HHS released the proposed rule in January, and the Biden administration’s freeze on certain regulations issued during the prior administration did not apply to this one.

The letter includes sections about overlap among Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), interoperability, and 42 CFR Part 2 regulations; modifications to the right to inspect and obtain copies of protected health information; information disclosure to third parties; care coordination and case management; standards for disclosing information when in an individual’s interest or to prevent harm; and notices of privacy practices.

“As Covid-19 continues to have a significant impact on behavioral health, mental health and addiction treatment providers must remain focused on improving access to care,” NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin wrote in the letter. “They continue to struggle with the new demands imposed by social distancing and precautions they must take to prevent Covid-19 infection. Healthcare staff and providers were already greatly strained by the ongoing stress and demands created by this pandemic,” he continued. “Moreover, behavioral healthcare providers and HIT vendors are still working to implement the new interoperability standards as they continue to face staffing shortages,” he wrote, adding that NABH urges OCR to delay the deadline of this and any additional regulatory changes such as those in the proposed rule.

Patients with Mental Health Conditions in EDs During Pandemic More Likely to Require Admission

New research from JAMA shows that patients with mental health (MH) conditions presenting for emergency department (ED) visits since the onset of the pandemic have been more likely to require admission and have had longer admissions.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to place novel stressors on the provision of pediatric MH care,” the article noted. “Our findings may reflect challenges in disposition to definitive MH care and may suggest a scarcity of MH treatment resources.”

The researchers went on to write that their limitations in the study include an inability to account for the complexity of presenting MH conditions and the limited generalizability to non-children’s hospitals. Still, they continued, the findings of the cross-sectional study underscore the need for increased pediatric MH services.”

HRSA to Host Provider Webcast on Covid-19 Coverage Assistance Fund on May 12

HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced a new program that covers the costs of administering Covid-19 vaccines to patients enrolled in health plans that either do not cover vaccination fees or cover them with patient cost-sharing.

HRSA will host an informational webcast for providers to present an overview of its Coverage Assistance Fund on Wednesday, May 12 at 2 p.m. ET.

Click here to learn more and register.

Fact of the Week

Nearly one in five adults between the ages of 50 and 80 said their overall mental health has gotten worse since the pandemic began in March 2020, and an equal percentage said their sleep suffered in that time too, according to a new aging study from the University of Michigan.

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

Mental Health Awareness Month Begins Saturday, May 1

Mental Health Awareness Month, also referred to as Mental Health Month, kicks off Saturday, May 1 to recognize the millions of Americans living with a mental illness.

Please be sure to follow NABH on Twitter and LinkedIn to help promote Mental Health Month, and visit the websites for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Mental Health America for more information and toolkits.

HHS Provides Exemptions for Buprenorphine Prescribers for Fewer Than 30 Patients

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that practitioners prescribing buprenorphine, a controlled substance, for opioid use disorder to fewer than 30 patients are exempt from certain regulatory requirements codified under 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2)(B)(i)-(ii).

Under the new guidance, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives are exempt from having to make certain training related certifications and certifying their capacity to provide counseling and other ancillary services. The guideline does not remove the DATA 2000 Waiver, otherwise known as the ‘X-Waiver.’

Providers are still required to file a Notice of Intent with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The exemption applies to practitioners who are state-licensed and DEA-registered. It also generally limits prescribing to patients who are located in states where the practitioner is licensed.

Practicing under this exemption does not count toward the time requirements for prescribing to a higher patient limit under 21 U.S.C. 823(g)(2)(B)(iii). This exemption also applies to other Schedule III, IV, and V drugs.

Tuesday’s guidance encourages practitioners to provide access to psychosocial services to improve treatment retention and outcomes. In addition, medical education institutions are strongly encouraged to implement comprehensive training in substance use disorder diagnosis and management.

In late January, the Biden administration placed a freeze on Trump administration guidelines that intended to exempt physicians from the X-Waiver. That notice cited clinical concerns and stated the Executive Branch did not have the legal authority to make the change.

GAO Releases Behavioral Health Study on Access, Claims Payments, and Covid-19 Effects 

In a report released Friday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said evidence collected during the Covid-19 pandemic suggests the prevalence of behavioral health conditions has increased, while access to in-person behavioral health services has decreased.

The report noted that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveys found about 38% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or depression from April 2020 through February 2021, reflecting an increase of 11% since 2019. Meanwhile, U.S. emergency department visits for overdoses and suicide attempts from mid-March to mid-October 2020 were up 36% and 26%, respectively, since 2019. The study also highlighted issues related to payment for services.

“Officials GAO interviewed from provider organizations offered anecdotal examples of problems with payments for behavioral health services, including examples suggesting that denials and delays were more common for these services than they were for medical/surgical services,” the report said. “However, most officials were not aware of published data that could confirm their concerns, and data from reports from two states on claims denials either did not support their concerns or were inconclusive,” it continued. “In addition, a report in one state that examined mental health parity—requirements that behavioral health benefits are not more restrictive than medical/surgical benefits—found that the rate of complaints associated with behavioral health services was notably lower than those for medical/surgical services.”

CMS Launches Behavioral Health Follow-up Care Learning Collaborative

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched the “Improving Behavioral Health Follow-up Care Learning Collaborative” to support state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies’ efforts to improve access, coordination, and follow-up care for beneficiaries who visit an emergency department or who are hospitalized for a mental health or substance use condition.

In an announcement, CMS said state behavioral health agencies, managed care plans, and providers will learn about evidence-based interventions to improve access to timely follow-up behavioral healthcare during the global pandemic recovery period and beyond.

The new learning collaborative includes a four-part webinar series beginning next month and an “affinity group” starting in July. According to CMS, states interested in acting on the concepts and strategies introduced in the webinar series will have an opportunity to participate in an action-oriented affinity group that will facilitate state-to-state learning and support state teams in designing, implementing, and scaling up quality-improvement projects in their state.

Click here for more details about the webinar series and affinity group and here to register for the webinars.

NABH Welcomes Comments on Federal Privacy Regulations

Earlier this year, HHS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that outlined significant changes to federal privacy regulations. The Biden administration’s freeze on certain regulations issued during the prior administration does not apply to this proposed rule, and the current administration has extended the deadline for comments on this NPRM to May 6, 2021.

Notably, the NPRM includes a section entitled “Encouraging Disclosures of PHI [Personal Health Information] when Needed to Help Individuals Experiencing Substance Use Disorder (Including Opioid Use Disorder), Serious Mental Illness, and in Emergency Circumstances.” This link to that section discusses the following proposed changes to federal privacy regulations:

• Revising the standard for determining when a disclosure or use of PHI is in the best interests of the individual to be based on a “good faith belief” instead of “exercise professional judgment”; and

• Changing the standard for use or disclosure of PHI to prevent or lessen a “serious or imminent threat” to the health or safety of a person or the public to instead be allowable based on a “serious and reasonably foreseeable threat” to a person or the public.

This section of the proposed rule also includes scenarios illustrating how the proposed changes to the privacy rules would help improve care for patients.

NABH welcomes comments about these changes and requests that members send any comments to Kirsten Beronio, NABH’s director of policy and regulatory affairs, by next Tuesday, May 4.

NIDA Director Says Addiction Should be Treated, Not Penalized in Health Affairs Blog

People with substance use disorders need treatment, not punishment, and drug use disorders should be approached with a demand for high-quality care and compassion for those affected.

Those are the words of Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA, in a Health Affairs blog post this week. Volkow also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the large racial health disparities in America, and that Black Americans have experienced worse outcomes during the pandemic, continue to die at a greater rate than White Americans, and also suffer disproportionately from a wide range of other acute and chronic illnesses.

“We have known for decades that addiction is a medical condition—a treatable brain disorder—not a character flaw or a form of social deviance,” Volkow wrote. “Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence supporting that position, drug addiction continues to be criminalized,” she continued. “The U.S. must take a public health approach to drug addiction now, in the interest of both population well-being and health equity.

Separately this week, an opinion piece in Stat from former Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Deputy Director Tom McLellan, Ph.D. and Jacob Crothers, M.D., an addiction medicine physician, proposed that the United States should engage in a rapid response similar to “Operation Warp Speed” (for the Covid-19 vaccine development and rollout) to address the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis.

In their observations, McLellan and Crothers wrote the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration surveillance of providers sends a confusing message about encouraging the use of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved addiction medications. They also warned against discharging patients for positive drug tests and prohibitive prior authorization policies, and they suggested extending the Medicare opioid treatment bundle to Medicaid.

NCOA to Host Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium on May 6

The National Council on Aging (NCOA), along with the U.S. Administration for Community Living and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host the 4^th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium as a virtual event on Thursday, May 6.

Registration is free, and the all-day event for public health practitioners, professionals in the aging networks, mental health providers, healthcare professionals, and others interested in the mental health of older adults will address topics such as access to behavioral health in diverse older adults, latest interventions related to SUDs, and socialization and engagement.

Learn more from the program’s agenda and click here to register.

Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!

After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:

• June 13-15, 2022

• June 12-14, 2023

We look forward to seeing you again in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Nearly a quarter of all child and adolescent admissions to psychiatric hospitals are involuntary, according to a new study in The Lancet. The report also showed children admitted against their will more often had a diagnosis of psychosis, substance misuse, or intellectual disability.

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

HHS Secretary Becerra Extends Covid-19 Public Health Emergency

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra has extended the public health emergency (PHE) due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, effective April 21.

The declaration typically lasts for 90 days, which would extend the PHE to July 20, given that Becerra renewed the PHE on April 21.

Researchers to Begin Work on Opioid Vaccine with $25 Million NIH Grant

Using a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Long-term initiative (HEAL), scientists from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Precision Vaccines Program and professors of psychology and medicinal chemistry at the University of Houston have partnered to develop an adjuvant opioid use disorder (OUD) vaccine.

An announcement from the University of Houston noted that an adjuvant molecule boosts the immune system’s response to vaccines, which is critical for the effectiveness of anti-addiction vaccines. The vaccine targets fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.

Therese Kosten, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said in the announcement that the vaccine could be a “game changer” for addiction. Kosten also serves as director of the university’s Developmental, Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience program.

“Fentanyl is different than heroin or other opioids in the way that it stimulates the nervous system,” Kosten said. “It activates the same receptors in the brain as heroin or morphine but does so by a different mechanism, which makes drugs that can reverse a heroin overdose, like Narcan, almost ineffective against it,” she added.

Kosten received $1.8 million of the grant to make the combination of the adjuvant with the vaccine as powerful as possible.

The NIH HEAL initiative is a trans-NIH effort to speed scientific solutions to the nation’s opioid public health crisis. The program launched in April 2018 and is focused on improving prevention and treatment strategies for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management.

Bipartisan Policy Center Establishes Opioid Task Force 

Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, M.D. and former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala are among the members of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) new Opioid Crisis Task Force that will develop evidence-based recommendations for Congress and the Biden administration.

Announced this week, the new task force also includes former Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.), former U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R-Calif.), Richard Frank, Ph.D., professor of health economics at Harvard University, Patrice Harris, M.D., former president of the American Medical Association, and former Gov. Susanna Martinez (R-N.M.).

The BPC’s announcement cited preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that show more than 90,000 Americans died from drug overdose deaths from October 2019 to September 2020, reflecting nearly a 30% increase from the previous year.

“Congress has made substantial financial investments to tackle the opioid epidemic, yet drug overdoses and mortality rates continue to climb, driven by illicitly manufactured fentanyl, with the highest increase in mortality among Black communities,” Anand Parekh, M.D., the BPC’s chief medical advisor who leads the project, said in an announcement. “We must determine more effective ways to utilize federal investments to combat this epidemic and close the gap between those who are seeking treatment and those receiving it.”

The task force will release a final report in early 2022.

HHS Introduces Video Series on Disability Rights Protections that Apply to Some Individuals in Recovery from OUD 

HHS this week announced it has developed a five-part video series titled “Civil Rights Protections for Individuals in Recovery from an Opioid Use Disorder.”

The series is intended to inform audiences about how to apply federal disability rights laws to child welfare programs and activities; discuss protections that apply to some individuals in recovery from an OUD; provide an overview of medication-assisted treatment, or MAT; and address common misconceptions about MAT as a treatment approach.

HHS’ Office of Civil Rights, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Administration for Children and Families have partnered with the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare to develop the series.

Click here to learn more and to watch the videos.

NCOA to Host Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium on May 6

The National Council on Aging (NCOA), along with the U.S. Administration for Community Living and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host the 4^th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium as a virtual event on Thursday, May 6.

Registration is free, and the all-day event for public health practitioners, professionals in the aging networks, mental health providers, healthcare professionals, and others interested in the mental health of older adults will address topics such as access to behavioral health in diverse older adults, latest interventions related to SUDs, and socialization and engagement.

Learn more from the program’s agenda and click here to register.

NIAA Alcohol Treatment Navigator Includes FAQs and Toolkit for Finding Quality Treatment 

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA) Alcohol Treatment Navigator is available to direct adults and families to finding evidence-based care for alcohol treatment.

The resource includes sections on what to know about alcohol treatment, how to find quality treatment, and how to get support through the process, as well as frequently asked questions and a toolkit. Because the NIAA developed the Navigator, it has no commercial sponsors.

Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!

After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:

• June 13-15, 2022

• June 12-14, 2023

We look forward to seeing you again in Washington!

Fact of the Week

After a year of trauma, three in 10 healthcare workers consider leaving the profession, according to a new Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll.

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

NABH Releases ‘Residential Treatment: A Vital Component of the Behavioral Healthcare Continuum’

NABH this week released Residential Treatment: A Vital Component of the Behavioral Healthcare Continuum, a white paper that emphasizes the importance and effectiveness of psychiatric residential treatment services for children and adolescents.

Together the NABH team and Youth Services Committee developed the paper as a resource for policymakers, regulators, the media, and other stakeholders to help explain how and why residential treatment is a vital component in the behavioral healthcare continuum—and how children and adolescents benefit from services in this setting.

NABH has posted the paper on the association’s new Youth Services page, which also includes shareable social media messages about the paper’s content for members to post on Twitter and LinkedIn. NABH urges all members to share the link to the new page and the messages with your teams.

If you have questions about the paper or a comment to share with the Youth Services Committee, please contact John Snook, NABH’s director of government relations and strategic initiatives, who serves as the association’s staff liaison to the committee.

President Biden Signs Legislation to Extend Suspension of Medicare Sequestration

President Biden on Wednesday signed legislation to exempt Medicare from sequestration—a process of automatic, across-the-board, spending cuts—until Dec. 31, 2021.

Late last year, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 provided a three-month extension of the Medicare sequestration moratorium, which expired on March 31.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice in late March that said the agency would hold Medicare claims with service dates on or after April 1 “for a short period” to ensure providers would not be affected by the sequester’s 2% cut to payments.

Biden Administration Requests Investments in Mental Health and SUD Services for FY 2022

President Biden’s recent request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 discretionary funding asks Congress to make significant investments to expand access to mental healthcare services, help end America’s opioid crisis, and prioritize the physical and mental well-being of the nation’s students.

Sometimes referred to as the president’s “skinny budget,” the White House’s discretionary funding request was sent late last week to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, ahead of the president’s official budget in the coming months. As with the president’s formal budget, this funding request from the Office of Management and Budget is significant for highlighting the president’s priorities.

“The opioid epidemic has shattered families, claimed lives, and ravaged communities across the nation—and the Covid-19 pandemic has only deepened this crisis,” OMB Acting Director Shalanda D. Young wrote in the request. “That is why the discretionary request includes a historic investment of $10.7 billion, an increase of $3.9 billion over the 2021 enacted level, to support research, prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, with targeted investments to support populations with unique needs, including Native Americans, older Americans, and rural populations.”

The discretionary funding request also builds on the recent American Rescue Plan in providing $1.6 billion—more than double the 2021 enacted level—for the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant.

It also asks for $1 billion to increase the number of counselors, nurses, and mental health professionals in schools, as well as $430 million for Full Service Community Schools, which provide comprehensive, wrap-around services to students and their families, from after-school programs to adult education opportunities, and health and nutrition services.

MACPAC’s April 2021 Public Meeting Addresses Behavioral Health

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) included several presentations related to behavioral health at its recent public meeting.

The two-day event addressed Access to Mental Health Services for Adults, Access to Behavioral Health Services for Children and Youth, Electronic Health Records as a Tool for Integration of Behavioral Health Services, and Promoting Physical and Clinical Integration Through EHRs.

NABH has posted the presentations on the association’s website; click here to learn more.

Manatt Health and AMA to Host Webinars on 2020 Roadmap to End National Drug Overdose Crisis

Research firm Manatt Health and the American Medical Association (AMA) will host a series of webinars to highlight various topics addressed in the 2020 National Roadmap on State-Level Efforts to End the Nation’s Drug Overdose Epidemic, which the two organizations released in December.

The first in this series, “Improving Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Justice-Involved Settings,” is scheduled for Tuesday, April 20, and will feature presenters from the AMA, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and North Carolina’s Health and Human Services Department.

Click here to register for the free webinar.

NCOA to Host Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium on May 6

The National Council on Aging (NCOA), along with the U.S. Administration for Community Living and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host the 4^th Annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium as a virtual event on Thursday, May 6.

Registration is free, and the all-day event for public health practitioners, professionals in the aging networks, mental health providers, healthcare professionals, and others interested in the mental health of older adults will address topics such as access to behavioral health in diverse older adults, latest interventions related to SUDs, and socialization and engagement.

Learn more from the program’s agenda and click here to register.

Save the Date: NABH 2021 Annual Meeting

NABH will host its 2021 Annual Meeting from Wednesday, Oct. 6 – Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at the Mandarin Oriental Washington, DC.

The association re-scheduled for this later date in 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We hope you can join us!

After 2021, NABH will host its subsequent Annual Meetings in June. Please save the date for these future NABH Annual Meetings:

• June 13-15, 2022

• June 12-14, 2023

We look forward to seeing you again in Washington!

Fact of the Week

Female nurses die by suicide at twice the rate of the general population, according to a new study in JAMA Psychiatry.

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