U.S. Supreme Court Allows Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers
In a 5-4 vote Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it will allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) regulation to proceed that mandates the Covid-19 vaccine for about 10.3 million workers at approximately 76,000 healthcare facilities that accept money from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the Court’s liberal justices in the majority decision. In its other ruling, the Court voted 6-3 to block the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses.
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a statement that the agency is “extremely pleased” with the Court’s decision for healthcare workers and added that giving patients assurance of safe care is a critical responsibility for CMS.
“CMS is already implementing its healthcare worker vaccination rule in 25 states and territories that were not covered by preliminary injunctions,” Brooks-LaSure continued in her Jan. 13 statement. “Today’s decision will enable us to fully implement this rule, and we look forward to working with healthcare providers and their workers to protect patients,” she continued. “We will continue our extensive outreach and assistance efforts encouraging individuals working in healthcare to get vaccinated.”
As a result of Thursday’s decision, healthcare providers subject to the Omnibus Health Care Staff Vaccination
rule in the 24 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming) covered by this decision will now need to establish plans and procedures to ensure their staff are vaccinated.
CMS also said the decision does not affect compliance timelines for providers in the District of Columbia, the territories, and the 25 states where the preliminary injunction was previously lifted. CMS released
guidance about this on Dec. 28, 2021.
Becerra Extends Covid Public Health Emergency for 90 Days
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has extended the Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE) for an additional 90 days, effective Jan. 16.
Former HHS Secretary Alex Azar made the original determination on Jan. 31, 2020. Azar renewed the Covid-19 PHE four times, and this recent determination is the fourth time Becerra has renewed it.
SAMHSA and Partner Groups Launch National Survey of Mobile Crisis Teams
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has partnered with other groups to launch a survey that will gather information about mobile crisis teams (MCTs) across the United States.
SAMHSA, along with organizations including the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and Vibrant Emotional Health (formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City) has released the survey to better understand the organization, operation, and financing of MCTs.
The organizations encourage all mobile crisis, co-responder, and other field-based mental health crisis response teams to complete the 10-minute
survey by
Tuesday, Feb. 28 and to share the survey widely.
CMS Requests Information on Behavioral Health Networks Within Medicare Advantage Plans
CMS on Wednesday published a proposed
rule that includes a request for information about how to improve behavioral health networks within Medicare Advantage (MA) health plans.
NABH will develop a response to the regulation and welcomes comments from NABH members.
Although all comments are welcome, CMS asked specifically for comments related to the following topics:
- Challenges for behavioral healthcare providers to establish contracts with MA health plans;
- Providers’ inability or unwillingness to contract with MA plans, including issues related to provider reimbursement; and
- Opportunities to expand services for the treatment of opioid addiction and substance use disorders.
Please send comments to
Kirsten Beronio, NABH’s director of policy and regulatory affairs. Public comments are due March 7.
GAO Offers Recommendations to Improve State Opioid Response Grant Program Assessment
In its recent
review of SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response (SOR) grant program, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that SAMHSA did not fully leverage available information to adequately assess the program, and that the agency did not identify the program’s potential limitations.
The GAO noted that SAMHSA assesses the SOR grant program through two annual performance reports, and it recommended that SAMHSA make those reports more useful by first identifying potential limitations and how those limitations may affect the conclusions that can and cannot be drawn; and second by further analyzing existing program information to provide a more comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the program to identify opportunities for improvement.
Register Today for National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week: March 21-27, 2022
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) invites organizations to participate in National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW), a national health observance meant to empower teens and young adults about making informed decisions about drugs, alcohol, and addiction.
NIDA has developed five
steps to hosting a NDAFW event and created lessons
plans and other materials for educators, counselors, and prevention specialists. Click
here to learn how to register your organization’s event online.
Reminder: NABH Denial-of-Care Portal is Open to Members
NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal is available 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 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.
Please e-mail
Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, if you have questions about the portal.
Fact of the Week
A new
analysis in the JAMA Network Open found there were 10,292 fatal overdoses among people over the age of 55 in 2019, compared with 518 overdoses in the same age group in 1999. The study examined disparities by sex, race, and ethnicity in death rates due to opioid overdose during this time period.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.