Former DOL Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch to Kick Off
2023 Annual Meeting
NABH is pleased to announce
John Pallasch, former Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for employment and training at the U.S. Labor Department (DOL), will kick off the association’s 2023 Annual Meeting with his presentation on Monday, June 12 at the Salamander Washington, DC.
Currently Pallasch is the founder and CEO of One Workforce, a workforce consultancy in Aiken, S.C. He served previously as executive director of Kentucky’s Office of Employment and Training, and—in his first stint at DOL—as deputy assistant secretary in the department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Pallasch has spent more than 20 years influencing organizational personnel, efficiency, and productivity in the public and private sectors. He will draw from those experiences to help NABH members think more critically about their workforce challenges and more creatively about how to solve them.
Pallasch graduated from Ohio State and later earned a law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law. Please help us welcome him in the Salamander’s Grand Ballroom on Monday, June 12 at 2:45 p.m. ET.
If you haven’t done so yet, please
register for the Annual Meeting and
reserve your hotel room today. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!
CMS Final Rule Establishes Mental Health Facilities and SUD Treatment Centers as Essential Community Providers
In a final
rule this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded access to care for low-income and medically underserved communities by establishing two new essential community provider (ECP) categories for mental health facilities and SUD treatment centers.
The changes came in the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) notice of benefit and payment parameters (NBPP) for 2024. This annual notice administers policy changes for plans on the ACA exchanges and sets rates and risk-model specifications.
The decision to categorize mental health facilities and SUD treatment centers as ECPs is a win for NABH; in late January, NABH advocated for these ECP categories in its comment
letter to CMS about the agency’s proposed NBPP rule for 2024.
“NABH strongly supports CMS’ proposal to expand its network adequacy criteria by creating two distinct essential community provider categories for mental health facilities and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment centers,” NABH President and CEO Shawn Coughlin wrote in the association’s letter. “To construct each county-level network, the rule would require insurers on the health exchanges to attempt to contract with at least one SUD Treatment Center and at least one Mental Health Facility.”
The final rule takes effect 60 days after it appears in the
Federal Register.
CMS Announces Opportunities to Increase Care Access, Including SUD Treatment, for Incarcerated Individuals
CMS this week announced a new opportunity for states to help increase care for individuals who are incarcerated in the period immediately before their release to help them thrive as they re-enter communities.
The new Medicaid Reentry Section 1115 Demonstration Opportunity would allow state Medicaid programs to cover services that address various health concerns, including substance use disorders and other chronic health conditions.
In an
announcement Monday, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said the agency reached a milestone in expanding access through Medicaid.
“This guidance outlines a pathway to implement historic changes for individuals who are incarcerated and eligible for Medicaid, she said. “By improving care and coordination prior to release from the justice system, we can help build a bridge back to the community and enhance individual and collective public health and public safety outcomes.”
Click
here to read the letter from Daniel Tsai, deputy administrator and director at the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, to state Medicaid directors.
NIH Study Shows Prevalence of Stimulant Therapy for ADHD Associated with Higher Rates of Prescription Stimulant Misuse in Teens
Researchers have found a strong link between the prevalence of prescription stimulant therapy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and rates of prescription stimulant misuse—taken in a way other than directed by a clinician— by students in middle schools and high schools.
The study this week in
JAMA Network Open emphasized the need for assessments and education in both schools and communities to prevent medication-sharing among teens.
“This is especially important considering non-medical use of prescription stimulants among teens remains more prevalent than misuse of any other prescription drug, including opioids and benzodiazepine,” NIH noted in a news release about the study.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration supported the study, which used data between 2005 and 2020 by the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study. The MTF is a large, multicohort survey of legal and illicit drug use among American adolescents in eighth, 10
th, and 12
th grades. NIDA also funds the MTF.
Reminder: Public Comments on SAMHSA’s 2023-2026 Draft Strategic Plan Due April 27
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is seeking public comment on the agency’s draft
2023-2026 SAMHSA Strategic Plan that presents a person-centered mission and mission highlighting SAMHSA’s priorities and principles.
SAMHSA’s five priority areas include preventing overdose; enhancing access to suicide prevention and crisis care; promoting resilience and emotional health for children, youth, and families; integrating behavioral and physical healthcare; and strengthening the behavioral healthcare workforce. The agency’s four core principles are equity, trauma-informed approaches, recovery, and commitment to data and evidence.
Comments on the draft plan are due by 5 p.m. ET next Thursday, April 27. Click
here to submit comments.
Reminder: 2023 NABH Exhibitor and Sponsor Guide Ad Deadline is Today, April 21
NABH will distribute the
2023 NABH Exhibitor and Sponsor Guide to all registrants at the 2023 NABH Annual Meeting from June 12-14, 2023 at the Salamander Washington, DC. Be sure your organization is included in it!
All ads are due today, Friday, April 21, 2023. Please click
here for details about advertising options, requirements, payment, and more.
The association also will send the guide to all NABH members after the meeting and post it on the NABH Annual Meeting webpage.
Reminder: Please Submit Data to Enhance NABH’s Managed-Care Advocacy Efforts
Thank you to all members who have submitted data to NABH’s denial-of-care portal. Your data will help NABH highlight problems in the field related to health plan denials and timeliness.
Several policymaking entities are interested in these data, which could support advocacy for expanded access to care. For new participants, please e-mail
Emily Wilkins, NABH’s administrative coordinator, for support.
Fact of the Week
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is tomorrow,
Saturday, April 22. DEA reflects the agency’s commitment to health and safety, encouraging the public to remove unneeded medications from their homes as a measure of preventing medication misuse and opioid addiction from starting.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.