WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) is pleased to welcome Andrew (Andy) Dodson as the association’s director of congressional affairs, effective Aug. 16. Andy brings to NABH more than 20 years of legislative and regulatory advocacy experience in senior government affairs positions with several national trade associations and a multi-client government affairs consulting firm. He has advocated for companies and associations in the insurance, technology and telecommunications, real estate, and business aviation industries, and he is eager to represent behavioral healthcare providers. “We are very excited that Andy has joined our team because he brings with him a keen understanding of Capitol Hill, extensive lobbying experience, and a strong background in regulatory affairs,” said NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin. “He is what NABH needs, and we know he will enhance and strengthen our advocacy efforts.” Most recently Andy led the American Wood Council’s federal, state, and local advocacy efforts, where he developed and implemented successful political campaigns and government relations initiatives. Andy began his political career working in the Texas legislature and on several statewide political campaigns before he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and several Texas lawmakers. He also worked as a regional fundraising director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Clinton/Gore Re-Election Committee. Andy is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He lives Bethesda, Md. with his wife and two sons. About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) represents provider systems that treat children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental health and substance use disorders in inpatient behavioral healthcare hospitals and units, residential treatment facilities, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, medication assisted treatment centers, specialty outpatient behavioral healthcare programs, and recovery support services in 49 states and Washington, D.C. The association was founded in 1933. SOURCE National Association for Behavioral Healthcare

Rochelle Archuleta has joined the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) as executive vice president for government relations and public policy, effective Sept. 6. Rochelle brings to NABH 30 years of experience in the health policy, healthcare delivery system, and legislative arenas. During her 20-year tenure as a policy director for the American Hospital Association (AHA), Rochelle led AHA’s post-acute care policy team. In this role, Rochelle partnered with providers, policymakers, and leading trade associations on issues pertaining to the home health, skilled nursing facility/nursing home, inpatient rehabilitation facility, and long-term care hospital sectors. These advocacy efforts expanded to include issues of common concern to all post-acute care providers and their hospital partners, including issues pertaining to Medicare Advantage and commercial insurers, as well as the Medicare program’s effort to create a new, unified payment system to reimburse the aforementioned, post-acute care settings. “We are pleased to welcome Rochelle to our team,” said Shawn Coughlin, president and CEO at NABH. “Rochelle’s extensive work in healthcare policy, as well as her strong relationships with partner associations, will enhance NABH’s advocacy efforts—both with legislators and regulators.” Rochelle is a research fellow in the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and is a former David Winston Health Policy Fellow. She earned a master of science in health administration and a master of business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) is pleased to share its online Membership Directory with the public for the first time. NABH’s Membership Directory is designed to help clinicians, hospital admissions staff, employee assistance directors, school counselors, policymakers, journalists, patient advocates, and families identify systems and facilities that provide essential behavioral healthcare services across the United States. Read more at PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Kirsten Beronio has joined the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) as director of policy and regulatory affairs, effective Feb. 24. Kirsten Beronio comes to NABH with more than 20 years of experience developing mental health and substance use disorder policy in leadership positions she has held in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government and at a leading mental health advocacy organization. “We are excited to welcome someone with the depth and breadth of behavioral healthcare policy experience that Kirsten brings,” said Shawn Coughlin, president and CEO at NABH. “Kirsten’s background in developing, implementing, and advocating for policies that help people struggling with mental health and substance use disorder positions her well for this role, and we are thrilled to have her join our team. Learn more at PR Newswire  

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday announced it has streamlined the process to survey the nation’s psychiatric hospitals to review for compliance with participation requirements in one comprehensive survey. Beginning in March, CMS will send psychiatric hospitals one survey to evaluate their compliance with both general hospital and psychiatric hospital participation requirements. CMS is not making any changes to the special psychiatric Conditions of Participation (CoPs) in this process. Under this change, CMS will move the interpretive guidelines from State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix AA, or the special psychiatric CoPs, into Appendix A, the CoPs for general hospitals. Subsequently CMS will delete Appendix AA. This change will allow CMS to issue a single survey and report to hospitals, rather than two. Read more here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jessica Zigmond 202.393.6700, ext. 101 Jessica@nabh.org NABH Examines the High Cost of Compliance on Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities WASHINGTON, DC (March 19, 2019) — The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) on Tuesday released The High Cost of Compliance: Assessing the Regulatory Burden on Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities, a comprehensive report that examines the burdens that certain regulations impose on the nation’s inpatient psychiatric facilities. NABH commissioned Manatt Health to conduct this first-of-its-kind study that focuses on three federal regulatory domains attached to participation in the Medicare program: the so-called “B-tag” requirements, a detailed set of standards for patient evaluations, medical records, and staffing in inpatient psychiatric facilities; “ligature risk points,” or those aspects of the physical environment that a patient could use to attempt self-strangulation; and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which obligates a hospital to screen all patients for emergency medical conditions, and, if an emergency condition is identified, to stabilize the patient before the patient may be discharged or transferred. “Members of NABH’s Regulatory Overload Task Force worked closely with Manatt’s researchers on this study, which surveyed 62 inpatient psychiatric facilities,” said NABH Board Chair Pat Hammer, president and CEO of Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Rogers Behavioral Health. “The findings estimate that, taken together, these three regulatory areas impose $1.7 billion in compliance costs nationwide—each year,” he added. “That means these regulatory burdens represent about 4.8 percent of an average facility’s annual revenue for all inpatient services from all sources.” NABH recognizes that rules are intended to serve the important goals of patient safety and high-quality care. But some of these regulations are outdated, and many are applied inconsistently by surveyors in the field. “Federal regulators have an opportunity to lift heavy compliance burdens from inpatient psychiatric facilities without harming patient care,” said Randi Seigel, a partner with Manatt Health. The report notes that doing so could ultimately improve patient care. “By removing low-value compliance burdens, the reforms outlined in this report would free up clinician time and financial resources that could be better spent improving patients’ access to high-quality psychiatric care,” said Fatema Zanzi, a partner with Manatt Health. NABH released the report at its 2019 Annual Meeting, where the association also launched its Access to Care initiative. Follow us @NABHBehavioral and at #NABH19 for live updates from the meeting. “This report emphasizes what our members have been saying for too long: regulatory overload takes time away from patient care,” said Mark Covall, NABH’s president and CEO. “As our nation works to address its deadly opioid and suicide crises, we need our behavioral healthcare providers to focus on what they do best: provide mental health and substance use disorder patients with the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.” Please visit www.nabh.org to read the full report and to see NABH’s other Access to Care resources, including the association’s Access to Care resolution and brief video. ### About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) advocates for behavioral healthcare and represents provider systems that are committed to delivering responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations that own or manage more than 1,000 specialty psychiatric hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment facilities, youth services organizations, and extensive outpatient networks. The association was founded in 1933.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jessica Zigmond 202.393.6700, ext. 101 Jessica@nabh.org WASHINGTON, DC (March 18, 2019) — The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) Board of Trustees on Monday approved a resolution that addresses unfair managed-care practices and recommends guiding principles for providers and payers to incorporate in contracts with managed care organizations (MCOs). NABH’s provider systems are committed to ensuring patient access to behavioral healthcare treatment across the entire behavioral healthcare continuum, which includes inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, outpatient, and recovery and support services. Too often, MCOs limit coverage to crisis stabilization or short-term, acute-care services for all levels of care because they use internally developed and/or proprietary and non-transparent, medical-necessity criteria. “As our Access to Care resolution states, ‘Fair and appropriate coverage for behavioral healthcare services must ensure—not solely offer—access to the entire behavioral healthcare continuum,” said NABH Board Chair Pat Hammer, president and CEO of Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Rogers Behavioral Health. “For this to happen, fair and reasonable managed care contracts must include and apply generally accepted standards of professional practice.” Articulated in clinical research and clinical specialty organization consensus statements, these generally accepted standards of care recognize that behavioral healthcare treatment is intended to:

• Prevent, diagnose, and/or treat behavioral health conditions;
• Promote age-appropriate growth and development;
• Minimize the progression of disability;
• Facilitate, maintain, and/or restore functional capacity; and
• Support long-term recovery.

NABH created a Managed Care Committee last fall to identify problems and propose solutions in managed care contracts. The Board of Trustees adopted the Managed Care Committee’s resolution at its Board meeting in Washington, D.C. on the first day of the association’s 2019 Annual Meeting. “We hope this resolution and the guiding principles in it will help our members as they work with MCOs to develop contracts that are patient-centered,” said Mark Covall, NABH’s president and CEO. “This resolution is also significant because it is a major piece of our new Access to Care initiative that we’re launching today. Through this initiative, we will provide information and resources to help inform policymakers, regulators, payers, and patient advocates that only true access to care can lead to recovery. NABH’s Access to Care initiative focuses on two major challenges: unjust managed care contracts and countless regulations, both of which often prevent behavioral healthcare providers from offering patients a full range of services. Please visit www.nabh.org to read the resolution, watch NABH’s Access to Care video, and learn more. And follow us @NABHBehavioral and at #NABH19 for live updates from the 2019 NABH Annual Meeting. ### About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) advocates for behavioral healthcare and represents provider systems that are committed to delivering responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations that own or manage more than 1,000 specialty psychiatric hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment facilities, youth services organizations, and extensive outpatient networks. The association was founded in 1933.

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jessica Zigmond 202.393.6700, ext. 101 jessica@nabh.org   NABH Applauds Landmark Behavioral Healthcare Coverage Ruling WASHINGTON, DC (March 5, 2019)— The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) applauds the decision filed in California’s Northern District that opens access to behavioral healthcare services for those who need it. “It has been 10 years since President George W. Bush signed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and we have yet to achieve full parity,” said Mark Covall, NABH’s president and CEO. “Today’s decision in California’s Northern District is a turning point. The federal court’s ruling made it clear that insurance companies must use generally accepted standards in the full behavioral healthcare continuum to help patients gain access to the care they need for recovery.” In a nationwide class action lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Tuesday held that United Behavioral Health (UBH) — the country’s largest managed behavioral healthcare organization — developed restrictive medical-necessity criteria that it used to deny coverage for outpatient, intensive outpatient, and residential treatment services. According to the decision, the Court found that UBH’s internal guidelines limited coverage to acute care services, disregarding highly prevalent, chronic, and co-occurring disorders that required greater intensity and/or duration. The Court also found that UBH failed to meet a requirement related to children and adolescents, asserting that although generally accepted standards of care do not require UBH to “create an entirely separate set of guidelines to address the needs of children and adolescents… they do, however, require that UBH’s guidelines instruct decision-makers to apply different standards when making coverage decisions involving children and adolescents, where applicable, including relaxing the criteria for admission and continued stay to take into account their stage of development and the slower pace at which children and adolescents generally respond to treatment.” NABH is especially pleased to see the Court acknowledge that mental health and substance use disorders are chronic illnesses, and that managed care organizations must cover care that not only stabilizes the acute aspects of a patient’s illness, but also addresses a patient’s underlying condition. ### About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) advocates for behavioral healthcare and represents provider systems that are committed to delivering responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations that own or manage more than 1,000 specialty psychiatric hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment facilities, youth services organizations, and extensive outpatient networks. The association was founded in 1933.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jessica Zigmond 202.393.6700, ext. 101 jessica@nabh.org   NABH Applauds Congress for Reaching Agreement on Opioid-Response Package WASHINGTON, DC (September 26, 2018) — On behalf of more than 1,000 mental health hospitals and addiction treatment centers, the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare thanks Congress for reaching an agreement to address America’s deadly opioid crisis. The final package includes many NABH-supported measures and contains the first substantive change to the Medicaid program’s burdensome Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion since the early 1970s. “NABH thanks House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) for his strong leadership in the House, which helped ensure that his colleagues paid close attention to the IMD exclusion, an antiquated regulation that has denied access to inpatient treatment for those who need it,” said NABH President and CEO Mark Covall. “We also thank Reps. Mimi Walters (R-Calif.) and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) for their tireless efforts to understand the IMD exclusion—and do all they can to repeal this provision and remove access barriers to behavioral healthcare services for millions of Americans.” NABH is also pleased with several other provisions in the final package and urges lawmakers to pass this legislation as soon as possible. Lives depend on it.

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About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) advocates for behavioral healthcare and represents provider systems that are committed to the delivery of responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations that own or manage more than 1,000 specialty psychiatric hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment facilities, youth services organizations, and extensive outpatient networks. The association was founded in 1933.  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jessica Zigmond 202.393.6700, ext. 101 jessica@nabh.org WASHINGTON, DC (August 9, 2018)— The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) today released Pathways to Care: Treating Opioid and Substance Use Disorders, a white paper that offers practical and applicable approaches to fixing America’s frayed substance use disorder treatment delivery system. In 2016, more than 20 million individuals in the United States had a substance use disorder (SUD), and 89 percent of individuals who needed treatment did not receive it. This is known as the treatment gap, and it exists for individuals with all types of SUDs, including opioid use disorder. The treatment gap is literally killing us and reducing life expectancy in the United States. The current system is characterized by limited integration between specialty addiction care and the general medical community; low use of evidence-based practices; poorly organized services that often confuse the public; limited, inconsistent, and unpredictable financing; and insufficient workforce capacity to meet consumer demand. The good news is the United States has highly skilled clinicians and first-rate health systems and programs to treat people with SUDs. Now we need to improve access to those providers and services. “As we build a better system to address the opioid crisis, we must look to strengthen and sustain the entire system of care,” Sarah A. Wattenberg, director of quality and addiction services at NABH, writes in Pathways to Care. “Only then will we realize our full potential—and save lives in the process.” Wattenberg’s paper is a landscape review that presents information about unhealthy substance use and how the delivery system often fails to connect people to treatment; provide the correct evidence-based services; monitor patient recovery during and after treatment; and re-engage patients whose symptoms recur. Along with the paper, NABH released a Pathways to Care provider checklist, an infographic that identifies key Pathways milestones, and shareable graphics to post on Twitter and LinkedIn. To access these materials, please visit www.nabh.org/pathways. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter (@NABHbehavioral), LinkedIn, and YouTube. To schedule interviews with Sarah A. Wattenberg, please contact Jessica Zigmond using the contact information at the top of this news release.

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About NABH The National Association for Behavioral Healthcare (NABH) advocates for behavioral healthcare and represents provider systems that are committed to delivering responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations that own or manage more than 1,000 specialty psychiatric hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment facilities, youth services organizations, and extensive outpatient networks. The association was founded in 1933.

NABH has sent comments to CMS about the agency’s proposed FY 2019 rule for inpatient psychiatric facilities.

NABH ad as seen in Politico and Roll Call titled “Helping Americans with mental and substance use conditions is important to overall health and to our economy. Congress agreed….Save lives, families, and communities with behavioral health.”

Partnership to Amend 42 CFR Part 2 comment letter to SAMHSA on a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on “Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records”