Financial Assistance

Congress should ensure that both Medicare and all state Medicaid programs cover psychosocial rehabilitation support services such as respite centers and clubhouses, which offer individuals with mental health conditions (usually a serious mental illness) a physical place where they can engage in a therapeutic community. The Department of Health and Human Services should ensure that psychosocial rehabilitation support services are covered under the Affordable Care Act’s Essential Health Benefits requirement for individual and small group health plans (i.e., Qualified Health Plans).

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should issue guidance to hospitals on their obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to stabilize and treat individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD), and Congress should provide financial resources to incentivize hospitals to hire appropriate staff for their emergency departments[1]

Congress should pass legislation allowing for psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and other non-physician practitioners to receive bonuses when they practice in shortage areas.[1]

Congress should amend 42 U.S.C. § 254e(a)(2) to extend and fund the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) to include Veterans’ Health Administration facilities and clinics by explicitly including those facilities and clinics under the definition of the term “medical facility.” [1][2]

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should establish a new G-code for a “consultation” fee. Such a code is critical to integrating mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) care into primary care settings by supporting consultative relationships with a psychiatric professional, who would receive a supplemental G-code for providing decision supports.[1]

The Health Services and Resources Administration (HRSA), within the Department of Health and Human Services, should educate mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) professionals about Public Service Loan Forgiveness for work in the criminal legal system.[1] Congress should expand National Health Service Corps (NHSC) eligibility to local and county corrections and a wide range of SUD treatment and recovery support professionals and make permanent the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 NHSC expansion of eligible participating sites to include SUD treatment facilities.[1]