NABH Pleased to Welcome HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at 2023 Annual Meeting
U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, J.D. will address attendees at the 2023 NABH Annual Meeting on Monday, June 12 from 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Secretary Becerra is the 25th secretary of HHS and the first Latino in U.S. history to hold the office. Previously Secretary Becerra was California’s attorney general and before that served for 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was the first Latino to serve as a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Secretary Becerra also served as chairman of his party’s caucus and as the ranking member of both the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health and the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.
Born in Sacramento, Secretary Becerra is the son of working-class parents. He was the first in his family to receive a four-year degree, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. He earned his law degree from Stanford Law School.
Please
register for the Annual Meeting and
reserve your hotel room today, if you haven’t done so yet. We look forward to seeing you in Washington!
CMS Releases FAQs About Transition Period Following End of Covid-19 PHE
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a fact
sheet of frequently asked questions to help providers prepare for the transition period after the Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends on May 11.
Although certain waivers and flexibilities CMS granted during the pandemic are set to expire, others will be permanent or extended due to congressional action. For instance, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 extended many telehealth flexibilities through Dec. 31, 2024, including: people with Medicare can access telehealth services in any geographic area in the United States, rather than only those in rural areas; people with Medicare can stay in their homes for telehealth visits that Medicare pays for rather than traveling to a healthcare facility; and certain telehealth visits can be delivered audio-only (such as a telephone) if someone is unable to use both audio and video, such as a smartphone or computer.
The fact sheet also noted that Medicare Advantage plans may offer additional telehealth benefits and that individuals should check with their plan about coverage.
“For Medicaid and CHIP, telehealth flexibilities are not tied to the end of the PHE and have been offered by many state Medicaid programs long before the pandemic,” CMS noted in the fact sheet. “Coverage will ultimately vary by state. CMS encourages states to continue to cover Medicaid and CHIP services when they are delivered via telehealth.
DEA Requests Extension on Agency’s Final Rule on Telehealth Prescribing of Controlled Substances
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has asked the White House for an extension on the release of the DEA’s final rule on telehealth prescribing of controlled substances.
The extra time would permit telehealth services to continue under COVID-19 policies temporarily. NABH’s
letter to DEA in late March was among the more than 18,000 comments that DEA received about telehealth services; the agency likely needs additional time to finalize the rule and avert disrupting current telehealth practices after the PHE ends on May 11.
CMS Releases Proposed Rules on Access and Quality in Medicaid & CHIP
CMS late Thursday released notices of proposed
rulemaking (NPRMs)—
Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services (Access NPRM) and
Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality (Managed Care NPRM) that NABH is reviewing.
To improve access to care, the Managed Care NPRM proposes to establish maximum appointment wait-time standards for outpatient mental health and substance use disorder—adult and pediatric—and other services, including routine primary care (also adult and pediatric).
CMS will accept comments on the proposed rules until Monday, July 3.
NIH Seeks to Expand Peer Reviewer Pool to Ensure Review Committees are Diverse and Inclusive
The National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) is seeking to expand its pool of peer reviewers with mental health researchers who can offer diverse perspectives in the peer-review process.
The NIMH peer-review process aims to make certain that scientific experts evaluate grant applications in a manner free from what the National Institutes of Health deems as inappropriate incidences. Peer reviewers provide feedback on the scientific merit of those applications.
Click
here to learn more about eligibility requirements for peer reviewers and
here to submit an application.
SAMHSA Announces Funding Opportunity to Promote Physical-Behavioral Healthcare Integration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced it will award a total of about $29 million in a new grant funding opportunity intended to integrate physical healthcare and behavioral healthcare.
The opportunity is not open directly to healthcare providers, but rather to the states. Specifically, states and state agencies—such as the state mental health authority, the single state agency for substance use services, the state’s Medicaid agency, and the state health department—are eligible to apply.
SAMHSA’s announcement said it anticipates awarding 14 grants and the length of the project is five years. Click here to learn
more.
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!
We are still seeking data from additional members to support advocacy on health plan denials and prior authorization timelines. If you are a new participant, please e-mail NABH Administrative Coordinator
Emily Wilkins for support.
Fact of the Week
A recent
study in
JAMA Psychiatry suggests that estimates of long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants were associated with increased risk of depression and anxiety. Researchers concluded that the non-linear associations may have important implications for policymaking in air pollution control. An
article this week in
Kaiser Health News also explored the connection between anxiety and pollution.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.
