Funding and Financing | Behavioral Health Today

CMS Eases ICD-10 Deadline by 90 Days…many believe that may not be enough

CMS STATEMENT

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services Announces 90-Day Period of Enforcement Discretion for Compliance with New HIPAA Transaction Standards

Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) announced that it would not initiate enforcement [...]

Medicare Covers Screening and Counseling for Alcohol Misuse and Screening for Depression

The new coverage policies add new preventive services for Medicare beneficiaries

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 14, 2011 Contact: CMS Media Relations Group (202) 690-6145

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced two new national coverage determinations that cover alcohol misuse screening and behavioral counseling for Medicare beneficiaries as well as screening for depression. [...]

SAMHSA awards up to $25 million to expand use of health information technology

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced today it is awarding up to 29 new grants, totaling up to $25 million over three years, to expand use of health information technology to increase access to behavioral health services.

This program will leverage technology to improve access and coordination of the [...]

Oregon’s Mental Health Parity Law Improves Coverage at Minimal Cost

Study that appears in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that state’s experience may presage outcomes of new federal law By: Oregon Health & Science University

September 12, 2011 – Oregon’s mental health parity law, which prohibits commercial health plans from imposing limits on mental health and substance abuse services that are not also [...]

CMS Announces Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative

The Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative is a new CMS-led, multi-payer initiative fostering collaboration between public and private health care payers to strengthen primary care for all Americans. Primary care is critical to promoting health, improving care, and reducing overall system costs, but it has been historically under-funded and under-valued in the United [...]

Legal Action Center Summary: Senate Appropropriations Committee Approves FY 2012 Labor HHS Bill

Prepared by Gabrielle de la Gueronniere, JD, Director for National Policy, Legal Action Center/National HIRE Network

Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their FY 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill by a 16 to 14 party-line vote. Under the funding bill, most SAMHSA programs would receive funding level [...]

Health Insurance Exchange Proposed Rules Released for Comment

Federal regulators released proposed rules concerning the implementation and governance of Health Insurance Exchanges – the new marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act where individuals and small businesses can purchase health insurance. Behavioral health policymakers, payers and providers are encouraged to review the rule and comment within the 75-day window of opportunity. The [...]

For-Profit Publicly Traded Medicaid Managed Care Plans Rack Up Higher Admin Costs

The Commonwealth Fund reports that for-profit publicly traded plans spent 14% of member premiums on administrative costs, while non-publicly traded plans owned by health systems, local providers and clinics spent 10% of premiums on administrative costs. Provider-owned and operated plans had the lowest administrative costs, with a paltry 8% of member premiums spent on [...]

Behavioral Health Providers Benefit From Health Systems’ ACO Feedback to CMS

There is a real hunger among mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers to understand the concept and machinations of Accountable Care Organizations. Understandably, ACOs are being tauted as the next generation of managed care and the solution to many of our health care system’s issues and concerns. The market is moving quickly [...]

Lamenting ACO Start-Up Costs and other Obstacles

Recently, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) – two titans in the provider space – have balked at the proposed rules concerning Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). At issue for both are the costs associated with start-up and annual operations of an ACO - costs the AHA pegs between $10M and $25M – [...]

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