CEO Update 258
Explore NABH’s Opportunities to Highlight Your Organization in 2026
NABH is eager to feature your organization in conjunction with our 2026 Annual Meeting– Future-Forward Leadership: Imagine. Innovate. Transform.
Please take a moment to review the options in our 2026 Exhibitor and Sponsor Opportunities and share this resource with anyone interested in building professional relationships, elevating brand visibility, and generating business development in behavioral healthcare.
And please consider advertising in this year’s Exhibitor and Sponsor Guide, regardless of whether you choose to serve as an exhibitor or sponsor at the 2026 Annual Meeting. Please click here for details. All advertisements are due by Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.
We look forward to seeing you at The Ritz-Carlton Washington, DC in March. Please register for the meeting and reserve your hotel room today!
ICYMI: SAMHSA Reverses Course on Grant Funding Terminations
Congressional leaders announced Wednesday, Jan. 14 that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will reinstate grant awards the agency had terminated on Tuesday.
SAMHSA had sent termination notices for about 2,800 awards, totaling approximately $2 billion in mental health and substance use funding. Congress showed bipartisan support to reinstate the funding, pressuring HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy to reverse the terminations.
In other federal healthcare news this week, President Trump released his healthcare framework, a one-page document that maps out his priorities related to insurance premiums, insurer accountability, and price transparency.
CBO Evaluates Effectiveness of Opioid Crisis Policy Approaches
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that assesses policy approaches to address the opioid crisis, including policies related to reducing opioid supply, demand, and harms.
CBO found that opioid use disorder treatment-related efforts such as expanding Medicaid coverage, increased telehealth, supporting treatment engagement for people involved in the criminal justice system, and enhancing state prescription drug monitoring programs had consistent evidence for several positive outcomes (e.g., treatment engagement, lower drug misuse). Broadening access to opioid overdose reversal medications (e.g., naloxone) also helped reduce deaths, the report said.
Meanwhile, efforts to disrupt the supply of illicit opioids had somewhat consistent evidence for reducing hospital admissions, crime rates, and mortality, but some evidence indicated that the effects were temporary.
CMS Releases RFI on Feedback to Modernize Claims Processing System
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a request for information (RFI) seeking ways to replace its Medicare claims processing system with a real-time, cloud-based platform.
According to the RFI, the new “ClaimsCore” program will redesign Medicare fee-for-service processing by replacing legacy shared systems, including the Multi-Carrier System, Fiscal Intermediary Shared System, and Durable Medical Equipment Claims System, as well as the Common Working File, with a flexible and interoperable platform that puts Medicare beneficiaries at the center of every decision.
The changes are meant to improve the beneficiary experience, reduce provider burden, and increase administrative efficiency in the Medicare program.
American Medical Association Releases 2025 Report on Substance Use
In a report released this week, the American Medical Association (AMA) said while opioid-related deaths have dropped to 75,000 from more than 110,000 in 2023, most are still driven by illicitly made fentanyl—and nearly 60% involve more than one dangerous substance.
The report, Substance Use and Treatment: Progress, Policy, and Future Directions, also noted that the 2024 decline in overdose deaths is coupled with a complex substance use and overdose epidemic, complicated by increasing prevalence of polysubstance use and an unpredictable illicit drug supply.
AMA recommends expanding naloxone distribution and access and removing barriers to substance use treatment access. The organization endorses additional research on emerging threats and identifies their policy priorities, including enforcing parity laws, removing barriers to treatment for pain and substance use disorder, and strengthening overdose prevention efforts.
The Chicago-based medical association also commented on the effects of cannabis use nationwide.
“We’re also seeing harms rise even as more states legalize cannabis,” the reported noted. “Emergency visits for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome have climbed more than 400% since 2016, and more than 19 million people met criteria for cannabis use disorder in 2023,” it added. “The evidence needs to guide us moving forward. Legal doesn’t mean harmless or useful, and we can’t ignore these trends.”
Fact of the Week
About 38% of Americans plan to make a mental health-related resolution for 2026, according to a new poll from the American Psychiatric Association. The percentage is considerably higher than the 5% of Americans who made the same resolution last year, the survey noted.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.