CEO Update 232
House Passes SUPPORT Act; Legislation Moves to Senate for Consideration
The House on Wednesday passed H.R. 2483, the Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act) in a 366-57 vote to reauthorize bipartisan legislation that would prevent and treat illicit opioid use.
Thirty Democrats – many of whom serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and are upset with the administration’s cuts for federal addiction treatment programs – and 27 Republicans, mainly fiscal hawks in the House Freedom Caucus, voted against the House bill.
Congress reauthorized parts of the SUPPORT Act in a 2024 spending package, including making permanent the state Medicaid requirement to cover medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. Lawmakers also expanded HHS’ state-by-state data collection efforts on behavioral health services and made permanent the state option to circumvent for certain patients the ban on using Medicaid funds for institutions of mental diseases. However, some parts of the 2018 SUPPORT Act remain unauthorized.
The legislation would reauthorize billions of dollars in funding for tackling the opioid crisis, which killed nearly 50,000 people last year, according to federal estimates. It would build on the original legislation Congress passed in 2018, which lawmakers have continued to fund even though it lapsed nearly two years ago.
Before moving the bill to the Senate, the House approved several amendments and narrowly rejected one amendment. An amendment from Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) would require the Office of the National Coordinator to convene a public roundtable to examine how the expanded use of electronic health records (EHR) among mental health and substance use disorder service providers can improve outcomes for patients in mental health and substance use disorder settings, and how best to increase EHR adoption among such providers, passed favorably.
Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s (D-Colo.) amendment would have codified Biden-era budget neutrality requirements for Section 1115 waivers. The vote failed 213-213, with two Republicans voting to support the amendment.
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2023 advanced a version of the bill in a 19-1 vote.
Senate Considers Budget Reconciliation Bill
Following the House’s passage of the budget reconciliation bill, the Senate is now considering the “One Big Beautiful Bill” with the goal of passing the legislation by Congress’ July 4 recess.
Senate committees are reviewing their respective portions of the legislation and will soon release potentially amended versions of the House bill which must be reconciled.
Also this week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the House-passed bill will add $2.4 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade. The agency estimated the proposed tax cuts in the plan would decrease revenues by more than $3.6 trillion during that period.
CBO estimates Medicaid would be cut $863 billion over 10 years under the last-minute changes to the House reconciliation bill and 10.9 million people would be without health insurance in 2034, about a $75 billion increase from its initial Medicaid savings calculation and 2.3 million more people predicted to become uninsured.
CBO also estimates a total of 16 million people could lose health insurance if a House-passed budget bill becomes law, a number Republicans dispute. Other effects of the budget reconciliation bill’s policies that CBO analyzed include:
Work requirements: Requirements that recipients work, volunteer or go to school, the largest source of savings in the bill at $344 billion, and would lead to 4.8 million people losing health insurance.
Provider tax moratorium: The bill would place a moratorium on any new taxes that states levy on their hospitals. States can use revenue from the taxes to draw down more federal money for Medicaid and make hospitals whole by charging higher payment rates. The moratorium would likely lead states to reduce available resources for their Medicaid programs and change enrollment policies to “make enrollment more challenging to navigate,” the report said. It is anticipated that 400,000 people would lose insurance through 2034.
Return of Affordable Care Act (ACA) payments: A last-minute change to the bill returns payments to insurers to reimburse them for covering reduced cost-sharing for low-income customers. However, it would likely end a loophole that plans and states have used to recoup the cost of cost-sharing reductions by inflating the value of income-based tax credits. CBO estimates that 300,000 people would lose their coverage by 2034.
Changes to ACA eligibility: The bill includes several other ACA changes, such as ending a special enrollment period for people who earn 150% or less of the federal poverty level, erasing a 2024 rule that enabled them to enroll at any point in the year. This provision would lead to 200,000 losing insurance through 2034. The bill would also prohibit some immigrants from getting income-based subsidies on the exchanges. This would lead to 1 million people losing coverage. Stricter verification requirements for ACA customers to qualify for subsidies would also cause 700,000 people to drop off coverage through 2034.
Last month NABH sent a letter to congressional leaders that outlines our concerns about the measure’s healthcare provisions and provides other feedback about the budget reconciliation bill. NABH will continue to focus on members of the influential Senate Finance Committee and other senators who have expressed publicly their concern to make these changes.
And NABH will continue to use our grassroots platform to contact members of the Senate Finance Committee to request these legislative changes. We encourage you to act and to engage other colleagues in this effort!
CMS Releases RFI to Gather Information on Improving Hospital Price Transparency
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public feedback about whether and how the agency can improve hospital price transparency (HPT)compliance and enforcement processes.
This RFI relates to the President’s Executive Order 14221 to ensure compliance with the transparent reporting of complete, accurate, and meaningful HPT data. Click here to read the RFI.
FTC Wants to Use Enforcement Authority to Hold Social Media Companies Accountable
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) three commissioners want to use the agency’s enforcement authority to hold social media companies accountable for how their platforms affect children’s mental health, Politico and other news outlets reported this week.
“As President Trump has emphasized, it’s to our benefit that the United States continue to be the global leader in this kind of innovation. And the President is correct,” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said at a policy workshop Wednesday in Washington, according to Politico.
The FTC hosted the all-day workshop, The Attention Economy: How Big Tech Firms Exploit Children and Hurt Families, which featured remarks from other commissioners as well as Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.).
SAMHSA Publishes Guidance on Adult Benzodiazepine Use
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a “Dear Colleague” letter offering guidance on benzodiazepine (BZD) use in older adults.
Benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed for anxiety and insomnia; however, older adults face higher risks of adverse events from long-term use, including falls, cognitive decline, and drug interactions. The letter highlights the public health importance of reducing long-term benzodiazepine use among older adults and promotes patient-centered, evidence-informed strategies for evaluating ongoing BZD use.
Federation of American Hospitals President and CEO Chip Kahn to Retire at Year’s End
Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals for the past 24 years, announced Friday he will retire at the end of 2025.
Kahn is the third Federation CEO since the association was established in 1966 and led his organization through five presidential administrations and 13 Congresses. Modern Healthcare selected Kahn to the publication’s “100 Most Influential” list each year since the list was first published 23 years ago.
“What an honor to have an opportunity for a quarter century – and during a consequential period of health policy making – to be the play caller for this important hospital sector,” Kahn said in his announcement. “Much has been accomplished,” said Kahn. “Now it is time for a career turn to work on policy from another vantage point. I look forward to engaging in efforts to foster health care affordability, coverage, and quality improvement.”
USC Seeking Mental Healthcare Providers for New Research Study
The University of Southern California is seeking mental healthcare providers who working with bisexual+ (bi+) adult clients—including those identifying as pansexual, queer, or attracted to multiple genders for a new research study.
The study will explore how social and structural inequities contribute to disproportionately high unmet need for mental health care among bi+ people.
Eligible participants may be invited to share their insights in a focus group discussion and receive $50 compensation. Your input will support efforts to close the health gap and promote equal opportunity and justice for bi+ people. Click here to learn more.
NABH 2025 Annual Meeting Photos Now Available!
Please click here to see or use photos from the NABH 2025 Annual Meeting in Washington earlier this month. NABH requests that you please credit photographer Chris Ferenzi if you use or share a photo.
And remember to mark your calendars for March 2-4, 2026 when we will host the NABH 2026 Annual Meeting at our new location: The Ritz-Carlton Washington, DC!
Fact of the Week
In a cross-sectional study of 198,417 female parents of children aged 0 to 17 years, researchers observed large declines in self-reported mental health and small declines in self-reported physical health from 2016 to 2023, according to a new report in JAMA Internal Medicine. Mental health declines occurred across all socioeconomic subgroups; however, mental and physical health status was significantly lower for single female parents, those with lower educational attainment, and those with publicly insured children. The study concluded investments are needed to investigate and address the underlying causes of mental health decline among U.S. mothers, particularly for those of low socioeconomic status.