CEO Update 201
Deadline Extended: Please Submit Updated Member Information by Friday, Sept. 27!
NABH is developing its online-only 2024 Membership Directory, an essential member benefit that helps the association in its advocacy efforts.
Last month NABH e-mailed system members a link to the association’s membership-update tool. To help ensure we have the most accurate information on our members, please use that link to our membership-update tool and verify your system’s information.
The answers to these questions will help us provide a more accurate description of our diverse membership to policymakers, regulators, partner organizations, and the media. Please be sure to enter information for all of your system’s facilities so that we have a better picture of our membership.
We have extended the deadline for members to submit changes to Friday, Sept. 27. If you need assistance, please contact Maria Merlie maria@nabh.org at 202-393-6700, ext. 104.
As always, thank you for your time and for all you do to advance NABH’s Mission and Vision!
House Advances Telehealth and Social Media Reform Bills
On Wednesday, Sept.18, the House Energy & Commerce Committee passed several bills related to telehealth and social media access, as Congress attempts to complete pending business before the November election.
In a unanimous vote, lawmakers advanced an amended version of H.R. 7623, the bipartisan Telehealth Modernization Actby Reps. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) which would extend pandemic era Medicare telehealth rules for two years and applies flexibilities to federally qualified health centers and rural clinics. The existing rules are scheduled to expire at year’s end. The Congressional Budget Office gave the two-year telehealth extension an estimated cost of about $4 billion. The bill is offset using pharmacy benefit manager reforms. The legislation, which offers payment parity between virtual and in-person care, must be reconciled with similar legislation in the House Ways & Means Committee and must pass both legislative chambers.
The Committee also passed several bills concerning children and social media. H.R. 7891, the Kids Online Safety Act – sponsored by Reps. Bilirakis (Fla.), Castor (Fla.), and Schrier (Wash.), tasks social media platforms with removing or mitigating design features that promote suicide, eating disorders, substance use or sexual exploitation. H.R.7890, the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act, by Reps. Castor (Fla.) and Rep. Walberg (Mich.), bans targeted advertising aimed at minors. Neither the Kids Online Safety Act nor the Children and Teens Online Privacy Protection Actrequire warning labels but are the first step toward regulating the platforms, which have largely been immune to legal scrutiny. Last week, a bipartisan group of 39 state attorney generals backed that recommendation and called on Speaker Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senate Minority Leader McConnell to pass legislation requiring social media companies to post warnings that their sites endanger kids’ mental health.
The Senate previously passed the Kids Online Safety Act by a 91-3 vote in July, but the measure advanced in Energy & Commerce is significantly different, eliciting some opposition by members on both sides of the aisle. The committee debate suggests Republican leaders might demand further changes to allow for a vote for this bill on the House Floor. If the House were to pass it, representatives and senators will meet to form a compromise version of the bill, then vote again to pass that version.
Also on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7858, the Telehealth Enhancement for Mental Health (TELEMH) Act of 2025, by Rep. James (Mich.) which amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish a Medicare incident to modifier for mental health services furnished through telehealth. This bill is a positive development as it would allow supervised “non-physician practitioners” (PAs, NPs, etc.) to bill for telehealth services. Supporters say it would ensure virtual care is used efficiently and with integrity. The bill must now pass the Senate.
Updated Date!: Join NABH for November Webinar on Using Publicly Available Data in Health Plan Negotiations
Please join NABH for a webinar to learn about using hospital data effectively in your negotiations with health plans on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
The webinar will feature Erica K. Fox, M.B.A., vice president of business development and managed care contracting at Perimeter Healthcare. A member of NABH’s Managed Care Committee, Fox will review the use of publicly available data from hospitals, such as payer-specific negotiated rates and standard charges for all payers and plans, to negotiate contracts with health plans.
Fox has more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the behavioral health sector. Prior to her current role, she served as the business development director at Peachford Hospital, a Universal Health Services facility. Fox earned her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University, where she received a dual degree in Communications and Spanish. She later earned a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Loyola University Chicago.
Register here for this hourlong webinar now occurring on Thursday, Nov. 14 starting at 1 p.m. ET. We hope you join us!
SAMHSA Publishes Compendium: Connected and Strong
A newly published SAMHSA Compendium highlights ten papers aimed at enhancing and unifying behavioral health crisis services. This compilation of resources pinpoint recommendations and present strategies to improve connection within behavioral healthcare.
Focus areas discussed within the papers include but are not limited to the integration of peer support, improving access through the utilization of technology, as well as expanding the crisis response workforce. You can find the complete list of the papers included in the compendium here.
Please Submit Data to NABH’s Denial-of-Care Portal
We urge all NABH members to join those already submitting data to our Denial-of-Care Portal.
We are beginning to use aggregated portal data to illustrate and compare prior authorization practices for commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid managed care denials.
Policymakers have expressed particular interest in our aggregate estimate on days of uncompensated charity care, as well as the length of delayed health plan responses to prior-authorization requests.
To support this advocacy push, we strongly encourage all NABH members to submit data to the portal. Please contact NABH Associate Manager of Congressional Affairs Emily Wilkins with questions about the data metrics that we are collecting and/or the data-submission process.
Fact of the Week
Despite a 13% decline in adolescents experiencing major depressive episodes between 2021 and 2023, a SAMHSA reportfound that 40% of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 with major depressive episodes did not receive mental health treatment.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.