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April 5 , 2019

Advancing Public Policies for People with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency or Developmental Disabilities   
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Francine Sinkoff, Editor
fs@clmhd.org
New tax credit offers $2K to businesses that hire recovering addicts

WellCare of New York Expands Medicaid Programs to Three Additional Counties

Governor Cuomo Announces Opening of $29 Million Affordable And Supportive Housing Development In Brooklyn - NYC

Queens has greatest shortage of mental health care in NYC

Westchester-made Movie Has a Mission: Mental Health Awareness

Shortage Of Psychiatrists Causing A Growing Mental Health Crisis - Nassau County


Funding Availability for Supports and Services for Families Caring for a Family Member with I/DD - Monroe County




CLMHD Behavioral Health Data Portal Webinar Training Series

LGU/County Planners:  The Conference is hosting a series of half hour "Coffee Break" webinars to introduce each dashboard/ workbook of the newly updated CLMHD Behavioral Health Portal.

The webinars will provide brief ( 20-30 minute s ) overview of the dashboard with a live portal demo to delve into specific topics, such as how to navigate the data/dashboard/workbook, what the data means, how to best leverage it for completing your Local Service Plans (LSPs), downloading and printing reports for presentations, communicating with stakeholders, etc. Following the live demo, a speaker with expertise in the data will remain on the line for Q and A. 
To see a full list of the CLMHD Behavioral Health Portal Coffee Break Webinars, click  here .
Which Counties Just Say "No" to Marijuana?

As soon as Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wanted to allow counties and larger municipalities to opt out of recreational marijuana sales, local lawmakers began weighing the best course of action for their constituents.

Some took swift action, like North Hempstead on Long Island, which has already passed legislation officially banning the sale of recreational marijuana. Other localities and counties are taking time to examine the issue before coming to a final decision. To view where different counties stand on the prospect of opting out, click here.
The New Yorker: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

Innovaccer Launches AI-Assisted Solution to Address the Social Determinants of Health

A Three-Hour Fix for Phobia, a Four-Day Therapy for OCD

Shortage of mental health providers can leave patients waiting months

Field weighs in on criminal justice issues impacting people with mental illness

The New York Times: Fear, Loathing and Fentanyl Exposure
OMH Managed Care Update - March 2019

Click here to read the March 2019 issue.
Registration Open: Justice Center Regional Conference

The Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs will be conducting a conference with multiple sessions throughout the day. Each session is targeted for different audiences including provider agency representatives under the jurisdiction of the Justice Center, individuals receiving services, families, peer advocates and other interested stakeholders.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019
UAlbany Downtown Campus
135 Western Ave., Albany NY 12222

Click here for a summary of the session topics.
 
This conference will be repeated five times during 2019 in various locations around the State. Please watch your email for registration opportunities.
UPCOMING TRAININGS

HCBS Person-Centered Planning - Lessons From the Field
April 8, 10 am - 12 pm, DOH

Using PSYCKES Quality Indicator Reports
April 11, 12 - 1 pm, OMH

Supporting Consumer Engagement Through Outcomes Self-Report: A Case Study of MTM's New DLA-20 Self Report Tool
April 11, 3:30 - 4:30 pm, MTM

How Can RDoC (Research Domain Criteria) Inform Suicide Intervention Research and Treatment?
April 12, 12:30 - 1:45 pm, National Institute of Mental Health

Using PSYCKES for Clinicians
April 17, 10 - 11:30 am, OMH

Addiction Services 101: What Is Your Agency's Overdose Plan?
April 17, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, Corporation for Supportive Housing

Meeting the Needs of Individuals with Substance Use Disorders: Strategies for Jails
April 18, 2- 3:15 pm, National Association of Counties

Effective Implementation of RNR in Treatment Court Settings
April 22, 1:30 - 3 pm, SAMHSA's GAINS Center

The Opioid Crisis: Perspectives From Addiction Specialists In Primary Care & Psychiatry
April 23, 12 - 1 pm, PsychU

PSYCKES Mobile App for iPhones & iPads
April 23, 2 - 3 pm, OMH

Value-Based Purchasing/Managed Care: A Thorny Rose by Any Name...
April 25, 1 - 2 pm, OPEN MINDS

Enable Access to Client-Level Data in PSYCKES
April 30, 11 am - 12 pm, OMH

 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS

APRIL 2019

CLMHD BH Portal Webinar: OPWDD Enrollment Summary
April 10: 12 - 12:30 pm, GTM

Children & Families Committee Meeting
April 16: 11:30 am - 1 pm, GTM

Developmental Disabilities Committee Meeting
April 18: 1 - 2:30 pm, GTM

CLMHD BH Portal Webinar: Juvenile Justice
April 24: 12 - 12:30 pm, GTM

CLMHD Spring Full Membership Meeting
April 29 - 30, Holiday Inn, Saratoga Springs


Contact CLMHD for all Call In and Go To Meeting information, 518.462.9422 
CLMHD Analysis of FY2019-20 Executive Budget 

Lawmakers worked into the early morning of April 1st to pass this year's 2019-20 Enacted Budget, missing the midnight deadline for approval before the start of the State's next fiscal year. However, in the wake of pending legislative pay raises, contingent on an on-time budget, the State's Comptroller deemed the budget's passage sufficient and within the allowable time-frame so that the anticipated
salary increase would officially go into effect. A late-night resolution was also approved giving
substantial salary increases to the Governor and his Lieutenant, Kathy Hochul.

The Enacted $175.5 billion Budget, holds spending within the 2% growth cap and is being considered a major win for the Governor as many of the priorities outlined in his Executive budget proposal were approved as part of the final three-way agreements. Read more here.
Feds Clarify What Qualifies As 'Community-Based'

Federal officials have issued long-awaited guidance to help states determine what living arrangements for people with disabilities are considered com munity-based rather than institutional.

The  new guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services clarify a 
2014 rule outlining criteria for programs provided through Medicaid home- and community-based services waivers.

The rule calls for home- and community-based settings to provide full access to the community as well as offer privacy, foster independence and allow people with disabilities to make their own choices about services and providers. The criteria apply to homes, day and job-training programs and other non-residential offerings provided through waivers. Read more here.
Three Issue Briefs Provide Detailed Data on Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Enrollment and Spending, State Policy Trends and HCBS Waiver Waiting Lists 

Medicaid is the primary source of coverage for long-term services and supports, which help seniors and people with disabilities with self-care and household activities. While state Medicaid programs must cover such care in nursing homes, most home and community-based services are optional, offer a way to counter the historical bias toward institutional care and have been the majority of Medicaid's long-term services and support spending for over five years now. About 4.6 million enrollees nationally received Medicaid HCBS in 2017, with joint federal and state spending totaling $82.7 billion. Over 707,000 people were on HCBS waiver waiting lists in 40 states as of 2017.

Three new briefs round up the latest data on enrollment and spending, state policy trends and waiver waiting lists in the program, drawing upon KFF's 17th annual survey of Medicaid home and community-based services enrollment, spending and program policies. They include appendix tables with detailed state-level data. The briefs are:
Commonwealth Fund: The Role of Medicaid Expansion in Care Delivery at Community Health Centers

Community health centers provide comprehensive primary care to medically underserved communities, regardless of patients' insurance status or ability to pay. 
Previous research has shown that health centers in states that expanded Medicaid have particularly benefited from the ACA.  But less is known about how the delivery of health care in centers has changed. This brief uses data from the Commonwealth Fund 2018 National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers to compare the experiences of health centers in states that have and have not expanded Medicaid.

Click here to read the report.
AMA Backs UnitedHealth's Billing Codes For Social Determinants Of Health

The American Medical Association and UnitedHealth Group have developed billing codes for social determinants of health as insurers move toward paying for more than just medical treatment to improve health outcomes.

Health insurers are already paying for an array of services from food and nutrition to housing to make sure patients are getting the right care in the right place and at the right time.

But the AMA and UnitedHealth executives say new "ICD-10 codes" that are used to describe diseases and medical procedures in the insurance billing process need to be adopted to address social determinants of health.
UnitedHealth's UnitedHealthcare insurance business has created - and  the AMA said Tuesday it has endorsed - nearly two dozen new "ICD-10" diagnostic codes to track social determinants of health. Read more here.
Social Determinant ROI-The Early Returns

Last week, we wrote about the importance of determining the financial impact, in terms of return-on-investment (ROI), for payer and health plan investments in social services. This is an important step in moving the payment for social services from a "charitable act" to an investment in better consumer health and lower health care costs.

We outlined our recommended approach for measuring ROI for executives of provider organizations that are providing social service-integrated services for health plan consumers; however, there is no standardized process for this evaluation.  That is apparent when you look at the early reporting of the financial impact of a variety of programs focused on social determinants of health-these are a few recent examples:

The "Newark Initiative": Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health (RWJBH) & Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Of New Jersey (Horizon)- Horizon and RWJBH assembled a care team with a Horizon care transformation specialist, nurses, a personal health assistant, a health system-based social worker, and community health workers who all met with the identified Horizon members to learn about the non-medical barriers preventing the individuals from receiving care for their chronic health conditions. This care team worked to connect consumers to health care professionals and to non-medical resources provided by other community entities. Read more here.
Small Primary Care Practices Work to Screen Patients for Depression

Small primary care practices across the state are using a  new framework for screening patients for depression and coordinating their medical and mental health needs.  A  report
from the United Hospital Fund, Montefiore Health System and the New York State Health Foundation found the approach is yielding improvements in depression screening and detection rates.

The framework was desig ned to fill the gaps for the 1 in 5 New Yorkers who suffer from a mental health disorder. The vast majority of those individuals don't have access to treatment. It includes performing a self-assessment and an environmental scan of available resources, such as Medicaid Performing Provider Systems and supportive health plans, to help with integration. It also includes setting measurable three- to 12-month goals. Read more here.

Click here to view the 2019 honorees!
US Experts: Medicines for Opioid Addiction Vastly Underused
 
Only a fraction of the estimated 2 million people addicted to opioids are getting the medications, according to a report  by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The group, which advises the federal government, called for increased prescribing of the drugs and other changes to reduce barriers to their use.
 
Government-approved medications, which include methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone, help control cravings and withdrawal symptoms like nausea, muscle aches and pain. Their use is backed by most doctors and medical groups. Yet they still have skeptics, especially among supporters of 12-step programs that favor abstinence-only approaches. Read more here.
Five States to Pilot 'Rating System for Addiction Treatment Programs'

Five states are partnering with national nonprofit Shatterproof to create the Rating System for Addiction Treatment Programs - a system that would essentially do for addiction treatment centers what TripAdvisor does for hotels. 

The system, according to the organization, will deliver "trustworthy, standardized information about the levels and quality of care offered at all types of treatment centers." 

The first three states are Louisiana, Massachusetts and New York, and they'll be joined by two more, which Shatterproof says it will announce in the next few weeks. 

After the 24-month pilot - a $5 million initiative that's funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and health insurers Aetna, Anthem, Beacon Health Options, Cigna, Magellan Health and UnitedHealth Group - the goal is to launch the system nationwide. Read more here.
The Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors advances public policies and awareness for people with mental illness, chemical dependency and developmental disabilities.  We are a statewide membership organization that consists of the Commissioner/ Director of each of the state's 57 county mental hygiene departments and the mental hygiene department of the City of New York.

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