According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearm injuries are a serious public health problem in the United States. To combat this problem, many states have passed extreme risk protection order (“ERPO”) laws, otherwise known as “red flag laws.”

ERPO laws allow various individuals, including family members, health care providers, and law enforcement

It is no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has driven our daily lives digital—work, education, social gatherings, and, of course, health care. Congress and CMS responded to the public health emergency by waiving limitations on reimbursement for telehealth services rendered to Medicare patients. These waivers introduced new flexibility and vastly expanded Medicare patients’ access to

This month, Congressional committees held a number of hearings that focused on health policy issues, including the following:

The CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is holding a public summit on September 8, 2017 to explore creating a behavioral health innovative payment model intended to improve health care quality and access, while lowering the cost of care for Medicare, Medicaid, or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions. The

Advocates have been pushing hard over the past couple of years for the reform and expansion of mental illness and substance use disorder (i.e., behavioral health) treatment in the U.S. The 21st Century Cures Act — which has cleared Congress and is awaiting the President’s signature — includes a number of important provisions that reflect those efforts, including sections intended to strengthen, promote, and expand access to information, care, and coverage with respect to behavioral health care across communities and for individuals, families, and the nation’s health care workforce. The Act also includes $1 billion in block grant funding to target the “epidemic of death” associated with the opioid abuse crisis.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Provisions

In one of the most noteworthy behavioral health provisions, the Act strengthens leadership within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) by creating a new Assistant Secretary position. The new role will oversee mental health and substance abuse research, funding, and evidence-based health care practices, and will drive and coordinate federal policy in this area.  To do so, the Assistant Secretary will consult with stakeholders to improve community-based and other mental health services, including care for adults and children with serious mental illness, as well as collaborate with other federal departments, including the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor, to improve care for veterans and service members and support programs to address chronic homelessness.  The Assistant Secretary is also tasked with working with stakeholders to improve the recruitment and retention of mental health and substance use disorder professionals.
Continue Reading Major Mental Illness, Substance Use Disorder Reforms, Opioid Abuse Treatment Funding Included in 21st Century Cures Act

On September 30, 2016, President Obama signed into law S 1878, the Advancing Hope Act, which modifies the FDA’s priority review voucher program for rare pediatric diseases and extends the program through December 31, 2016. In addition, the House has approved a number of health policy bills, including the following:

On September 29, 2016, President Obama signed into law HR 5325, which averts a government shutdown by continuing funding for the federal government through December 9, 2016.  The legislation also includes $1.1 billion in supplemental funding to combat the Zika virus (including vaccine and diagnostic test development, public health, and other functions), along with

On September 21, 2016, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved the following public health bills:

  • H.R. 4365, Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act – to amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to enable paramedics and other emergency medical services (EMS) professionals to continue to administer controlled substances to patients under standing orders

Congress has returned from recess, and health care policy continues to be on the agenda. The following health-related hearings and markups were held this week:

  • The House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 5942, a bill to establish a demonstration program to provide integrated care for Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease, and H.R. 954, the “CO-OP Consumer Protection Act of 2016,” which would provide an exemption from the requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage if an individual’s Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) coverage is terminated.
  • The Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on “the Evolution of Quality in Medicare Part A.”
  • The House Budget Committee examined the CMS Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation: Scoring Assumptions, and Real World Implications.
  • The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on bipartisan bills intended to improve public health, including: H.R. 1192, the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act; H.R. 1807, the Sickle Cell Disease Research Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment Act; H.R. 3119, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act; and H.R. 3952, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act.

Continue Reading Congressional Health Policy Hearings, Markups Resume After Summer Break

The House of Representative has overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill (H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act) to reform the nation’s mental health care system. Key provisions of the legislation would: provide grants to increase access to treatment for children with mental disorders and individuals with serious mental illness and

A number of recent Congressional hearings have focused on health policy topics, including the following:

  • A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015: Examining Physician Efforts to Prepare for Medicare Payment Reforms.”
  • A House Judiciary Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the

CMS has released its final rule to apply provisions of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) to Medicaid beneficiaries who receive services through managed care organizations or alternative benefit plans and to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).  In general, the rule provides that financial requirements (e.g., copayments, coinsurance) and

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published a proposed rule on February 9, 2016 that is intended to modernize regulations governing the confidentiality of substance abuse records to ensure that patients with substance use disorders have the ability to participate in new integrated health care models that emphasize coordinated care while addressing

On January 6, 2016, HHS published a final rule to modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule to expressly permit certain HIPAA covered entities to disclose to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the identities of individuals who are subject to a federal “mental health prohibitor” that disqualifies them from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving

On November 4, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee approved the following health policy bills:

  • HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act – includes a series of reforms intended to improve federal mental health research, screening, and treatment programs, some of which have met with strong opposition from