Historic $1.9 Trillion Covid Relief Bill Includes Billions for Behavioral Healthcare
President Biden on Thursday signed the
American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to help Americans and the U.S. economy rebuild amid the Covid-19 global pandemic that brought the world to a halt a year ago this week.
The landmark legislation provides some $8.5 billion in new funding for the Provider Relief Fund, focused primarily on the nation’s rural providers. It also includes $125.8 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, some of which may be used for mental health supports, such as implementing evidence-based services in schools.
In a White House
announcement on Inauguration Day, the Biden administration said “Districts must ensure that funds are used to not only reopen schools, but also to meet students’ academic, mental health and social, and emotional needs in response to Covid-19 (e.g. through extended learning time, tutoring, and counselors), wherever they are learning.”
Meanwhile, the new law includes $3 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) community mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment grants, and $420 million for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. It also provides $80 million in pediatric mental healthcare access funding, and $50 million in grants—for which behavioral health organizations are eligible—to address local behavioral health needs, including addressing surge capacity for behavioral health, telehealth, and crisis intervention services. The law also provides $30 million for substance use disorder (SUD) harm-reduction programs and $20 million for youth suicide-prevention programs.
Here are other essential behavioral healthcare provisions in the
American Rescue Plan:
- Provides for mandatory coverage of COVID-19 vaccines, administration, and treatment under Medicaid
- Allows states to extend Medicaid eligibility to women for 12 months postpartum for five years
- Offers a Medicaid enhanced match (95%) for states that newly expand Medicaid as authorized under the Affordable Care Act
- Includes a 7-percent increase in Medicaid match for home and community-based services including mental health services
- Provides a Medicaid enhanced federal match (85% for three years) for mobile crisis services
- $100 million for Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grants to graduate and professional training programs
- $40 million for behavioral healthcare providers to support mental health among their workforce
- $20 million to CDC for an education and awareness campaign directed to health care professionals and first responders
- $80 million for behavioral healthcare for first responders
NABH Joins Other Healthcare Organizations to Support Medicare Sequester Extension
NABH is one of nearly 50 healthcare organizations that has requested House and Senate leaders extend the Medicare sequester moratorium and prevent the projected 4-percent Medicare spending cut scheduled to begin next year.
Signed into law in late December,
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 provided a three-month extension—until March 31—of the Medicare sequester moratorium that the
CARES Act enacted. Meanwhile, unless Congress acts, a sequestration order will be issued to reduce spending in fiscal year 2022 by $381 billion, including a reduction in Medicare spending by four percentage points, which is an estimated $36 billion for that year.
“Such extreme cuts would have a long-lasting and devastating impact on health care providers and patients alike,” the groups wrote in a
letter Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Fauci Says He is “Very Much” Concerned About a Mental Health Pandemic in Covid-19 Aftermath
Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Norah O’Donnell of the
CBS Evening News this week he is “very much” concerned about a mental health pandemic in the wake of the Covid-19 public health emergency.
“That’s the reason why I want to get the virological aspect of this pandemic behind us,” Fauci said, “because the long-term ravages of this pandemic are so multifaceted.”
Fauci also expressed his concerns about the prolonged symptomatology for those who have had the Covid-19 virus, the pandemic’s long-lasting economic effects, and the amount of routine medical examinations that Americans were forced to forego during the pandemic’s shutdown.
SAMHSA Accepting Applications for MAT-Prescription Drug-Opioid Addiction Grants
SAMHSA is accepting applications for fiscal year 2021 Medication-Assisted Treatment-Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction (MAT-PDOA) grants to expand and enhance access to MAT services for individuals with opioid use disorder who are seeking or receiving MAT.
SAMHSA’s announcement said the agency plans to issue about 89-135 awards of up to $1 million per year for states and up to $525,000 per year for other domestic, public or not-for-profit organizations for up to five years.
The deadline to apply is Tuesday, April 27. Click
here to learn more and apply.
IPFQR Webinar Scheduled for Next Week
The Quality Reporting Center has scheduled a webinar for participants in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program about navigating public reporting websites on Wednesday, March 17 at 2 p.m. ET.
According to an announcement, the presentation will describe how the IPF community can access publicly reported IPFQR program data on the Medicare Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog websites.
Click
here to learn more and to register.
Upcoming Opioid Crisis Webinar to Feature SAMHSA Chief Medical Officer Neeraj Gandotra, M.D.
SAMHSA Chief Medical Officer Neeraj Gandotra, M.D. will lead a panel of experts in a webinar to explore how healthcare providers, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations can work together to address the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis.
Healthcare software company WellSky will present the webinar, which is intended to help registrants learn about effective care coordination, effective strategies to produce better outcomes, and how advocates are working to align patient data sharing with the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m. Click
here to register.
Register to Attend the 2021 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit
The annual Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, known as the largest annual conference that addresses America’s opioid and addiction crises, will be held virtually this year from April 5-8.
The conference will present more than 75 sessions across nine educational tracks and will cover topics ranging from prevention and treatment to public safety and technology. NABH Director of Quality and Addiction Services Sarah Wattenberg will present with representatives from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Veterans Affairs Department in a session titled, “Federal and Private Sector Responses to Opioid Treatment Issues During the Covid-19 Pandemic.”
For additional information, download the conference
brochure, 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:
We look forward to seeing you again in Washington!
Fact of the Week
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking
poll found that during the Covid-19 pandemic, adults in households with job loss or lower incomes reported higher rates of symptoms of mental illness than those without job or income loss: 53% versus 32%.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond