NABH Welcomes Harsh K. Trivedi, M.D., M.B.A as 2023 Board Chair
NABH is pleased to welcome Sheppard Pratt President & CEO Harsh K. Trivedi, M.D., M.B.A as the association’s board chair for 2023.
Harsh has served as an NABH board member as well as a member of the association’s workplace violence prevention workgroup and Covid-19 task force. A graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Harsh completed his general psychiatry residency at the Zucker Hillside Hospital/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his child and adolescent psychiatry training at Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School.
Harsh has served as president and CEO at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore since 2016. NABH is eager to work with Harsh as the association celebrates its 90
th anniversary in 2023!
SAMHSA Releases National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2021
About one in four U.S. adults had a mental illness and more than 16% of the population—or more than 46 million people—met the criteria for substance use disorder (SUD) in 2021, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA)
National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
Released annually, the latest report for the 2021 calendar year also found that younger people reported even higher levels of mental illness—one in three for those between the ages of 18 and 25. Meanwhile, nearly 94% of people with SUD didn’t receive any treatment in 2021.
“Every year since 1971, this survey has given us a window into our nation’s mental health and substance use challenges and 2021 was no different,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in an
announcement about the survey. “As the findings make clear, millions of Americans young and old faced mental health and substance use challenges – sometimes both at once – during the second year of the pandemic,” he continued. “As we work to improve behavioral health across the nation, HHS is committed to ensuring that all people facing mental health or substance use challenges are connected to appropriate services and supports.”
SAMHSA noted that estimates from the 2021
NSDUH should not be compared with estimates from previous years because the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated methodological changes to the data collection process.
CMS Issues Information Bulletin on Medicaid Provisions in Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Thursday issued an informational bulletin that highlights provisions in the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA, 2023) related to the Medicaid continuous enrollment condition.
The
CAA, 2023 updates certain Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provisions, including significant changes to the continuous enrollment condition of the
Family First Coronavirus Response Act. Under the
CAA, 2023, expiration of the continuous enrollment condition will no longer be linked to the Covid-19 public health emergency (PHE); instead, the condition will end on March 31, 2023. After the condition ends, states will have up to 12 months to initiate, and 14 months to complete, a renewal for all individuals enrolled in Medicaid, CHIP, and the Basic Health Program.
Click
here for more details.
HRSA Urges Nurses to Apply for Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week announced a reminder that the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program opens soon.
As part of the program, certain eligible nurses could qualify for up to 85% of unpaid debt. In return, they would be required to serve at least two years in a critical shortage facility in a high need area or accredited school of nursing in a U.S. state or territory.
Nurses must work at eligible facilities for this program, which include public or non-profit medical facilities. Click
here to learn about eligibility and application requirements.
Bipartisan Policy Center to Host Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Panel Discussion
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) will host a panel discussion about the organization’s federal policy recommendations to address the huge gap between need and care on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
The BPC noted that as of March 2021, about 37% of Americans lived in mental health shortage areas. Panelists will highlight findings of a new BPC report,
Filling the Gaps in the Behavioral Health Workforce, which recommends ways to bolster the role of behavioral healthcare workers such as peer specialists, community health workers, and paraprofessionals, as well as community members who can help support the licensed workforce.
Click
here to register for the hourlong webinar that starts at noon ET on Jan. 24.
Reminder: Apply for HRSA Grants to Reduce Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome in Rural Settings
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy will invest $20 million in about 40 grants to reduce the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the nation’s rural communities.
According to HRSA’s announcement, grant recipients will collaborate with local, state, and regional stakeholders to provide coordinated, trauma-informed, and family centered behavioral and maternal healthcare services—including medication-assisted treatment—to rural pregnant and post-partum women and their families.
Applicant organizations may be in either an urban or rural area; however, all activities supported by the program must exclusively occur in HRSA-designated, rural
areas.
The agency will accept applications through March 8, 2023.
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.
Save the Date for the NABH 2023 Annual Meeting!
Please mark your calendars and plan to join us in Washington, DC from
June 12-14, 2023 for next year’s NABH Annual Meeting!
Fact of the Week
While visits to pediatric emergency rooms rose 1.5% from 2015 to 2021, visits for mental health crises increased 8% a year, according to a new study in
JAMA Pediatrics. The study also found that 13% of those young patients returned in six months.
For questions or comments about this CEO Update, please contact Jessica Zigmond.
