Behavioral Health News’ Post

Governor Kathy Hochul announces a groundbreaking $7.5 billion waiver approval by CMS to boost health equity and address disparities in the state's Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration. This transformative initiative will invest nearly $6 billion over the next three years, focusing on critical Medicaid initiatives. Here's what you need to know: ✨ Key Highlights ✨ Comprehensive #HealthEquity: The amendment supports underserved communities, providing vital services like #nutrition and #HousingSupport. Safety Net Hospitals: Critical funding for safety net hospitals to enhance care and address health worker shortages. Continuous #Medicaid Eligibility: Plans to submit an amendment for continuous Medicaid eligibility for children up to age six. Social Care Networks: Integrating health, behavioral, and social care services to connect members with nutritional and housing support. Substance Use Disorders: Coordinated treatment enhancements for #SubstanceUseDisorders. Primary Care Investment: Long-term investments in primary care and workforce training programs. 💬 Governor Hochul stated, "This approval will help us support underserved communities, provide critical services, and improve access for those affected by substance use." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e9TZjUKa #HealthEquity #NewYorkHealthcare #MedicaidInnovation #CommunityWellness

What is the message from FQHCs to Medicaid Directors? 1) Invest in provider networks to help them survive. There will always be Medicaid patients that no one but FQHCs will want to see so we need to protect those providers. 2) Helping smaller Medicaid plans by aggregating services to help them drive value based care solutions. 3) Understand the primary diagnosis in FQHCs is poverty, so they need payment that recognized the role they play for their patients connecting them to services to help. - takeaways from #HMACon2024 plenary session Providers at Risk: Innovative Community-Driven Care Delivery Strategies featuring Wil Franklin, MS, LPC of KC CARE Health Center, Hugh Lytle of Equality Health, and Andie Martinez Patterson of Alameda Health Consortium

Great points from this panel of FQHC leaders! What is the message from FQHCs to Medicaid Directors? 1) Invest in provider networks to help them survive. <- this! Read more below!

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approval allows New York to make large investments in wide-ranging Medicaid initiatives. This includes establishing sustainable base rates for safety net hospitals that serve the state’s most underserved communities; connecting people to critical housing and nutritional services; enhancing access to mental health and substance abuse treatment; and making long-term, sustainable investments in the state’s healthcare workforce. Read more about how the initiatives will provide a wide range of health and social support services to underserved communities by addressing health disparities health outcomes and quality of life. https://ow.ly/Ex8G50QxZ6j #healthdisparities #qualityoflife #housingsupport #healthequity #behavioralhealth

A growing number of states are covering housing-related services under Medicaid. 🏘️ Check out NASHP | National Academy for State Health Policy's latest report to learn more about how states are leveraging their contracts with managed care organizations to support housing-related interventions.

Interested in state strategies to support housing-related services under Medicaid? Our new resource highlights examples of how state Medicaid programs are leveraging manage care contracts and policies to align a variety of health and housing supports and services, including behavioral health services, pre-tenancy services, tenancy sustaining services, home remediations, and home/environmental accessibility modifications. Check out the resource to learn more: https://loom.ly/FEUdTQU

MEDICAID FACTS: Did you know that Ohio Medicaid provides health coverage to over 3 million residents, including low-income individuals, families, seniors, and people with disabilities? This essential program ensures access to necessary medical services, helping to improve health outcomes across the state. Understanding Medicaid can play a critical role in your financial planning. Stay informed and make the most of the resources available! #OhioMedicaid #HealthcareAccess #MedicaidFacts #CommunityHealth #FinancialPlanning #PalumboandSweet

MEDICAID FACTS: Did you know that Ohio Medicaid provides health coverage to over 3 million residents, including low-income individuals, families, seniors, and people with disabilities? This essential program ensures access to necessary medical services, helping to improve health outcomes across the state. Understanding Medicaid can play a critical role in your financial planning. Stay informed and make the most of the resources available! #OhioMedicaid #HealthcareAccess #MedicaidFacts #CommunityHealth #FinancialPlanning #PalumboandSweet

This is a peronal victory. Why? Well, as usual, there’s a story… I am a person sustaining recovery who has a graduate degree in Counseling, obtained prior to losing so much of who I am to opioid dependence. I got my M.Ed. in Counseling in 2006, right before beginning a decade of declining mental illness and increasing dependence on substances that would almost end my life multiple times. During a TDO for psychosis related to opioid withdrawal in 2017, I was asked by the attending doc what I did for a living. I replied that I was a mental health therapist hoping to get a fresh start and achieve my LPC credentials. The doctor laughed at me and said I’d NEVER work in the behavioral health profession again. Three years and a lot of recovery and healing later, I became a Peer Recovery Specialist as a way to get back some of what I considered my life’s purpose in the healing arts. I am so proud to be a member of the Peer Workforce today. I have long considered myself a Peer first and at times, even glossed over my educational history. My inner narrative remains fueled by what that doc said years ago, that I will never be enough. I am not licensed and not valid, I’m too focused on mutuality and empathy to be clinical, yet I’m not “peer” enough by sheer virtue of a framed piece of paper. Yet lots of awesome CPRSs hold the ultimate goal of becoming CSACs or licensed clinicians. Apparently, being a Peer Professional is somehow still “less than” and not only to me (but that’s a post for another day). Soon after entering the CSB world, I saw how vast the divide is between clinical/treatment and recovery/peer support. This started my wheels turning. “Am I a Peer or am I a clinician? There is absolutely no way I could be both, right? Wait… could I be both?” Then I began organically trying to build relationships on both professional sides along with integrating both sides of myself. Through this process of increasing understanding, bridging the divide, and creating authentic connection, I discovered that both sides do actually value the other and view us as spokes in a wheel. The one thing that keeps us separated is money, specifically Medicaid reimbursement rates. That’s where we learn to put a value on our own professional worth and that’s where even the most confident of Peers are reminded of our discounted worth in the behavioral health system. I kept dreaming of my ideal role, one that combined all parts of me. Last month, I found it and I am thrilled to be in a position currently where I am valued for my education in all its forms: from both Longwood and the University of Life. Even today, I longed for a way to leverage my book knowledge in a way that would bring value to my agency and wondered if I could ever actually bill for clinical services. This new inclusion for educated recovery professionals who are not licensed is great news for not only me, but also for the strained behavioral health workforce. We do have value and are ready to help.

Exciting Update from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services! New Hampshire has just received approval for its Medicaid State Plan Amendment to support community-based mobile crisis intervention teams. This approval allows 24/7 access to behavioral health services for Medicaid-eligible individuals in crisis. With this, New Hampshire joins 20 other states and the District of Columbia in expanding access to crucial mental health and substance use services under the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure commend New Hampshire’s efforts, emphasizing the importance of meeting individuals in crisis where they are and offering support during National Recovery Month. This initiative is a significant step towards integrating behavioral health services into Medicaid programs and enhancing community-based mental health support. For more details on New Hampshire’s approval and how it fits into the broader national strategy, visit https://lnkd.in/deWd5zSA #MentalHealth #Medicaid #CrisisIntervention #PublicHealth