Health Reform Update - 11/23/09
Health Reform Bill Unveiled in the Senate, Passes Crucial First Vote
Senate Democrats unveiled their healthcare reform legislation late Wednesday night. The bill would cost $849 billion over the first 10 years, cut the deficit by $127 billion over the same period, and expand health coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans.
As expected, the Senate bill released this week maintains the strong substance use disorder and mental health provisions from the HELP and Finance Committee bills, such as:
- Requiring substance use disorder and mental health services to be included in all qualified health plans as part of the minimum benefits package
- Requiring individual, small group and large group health insurance plans to comply with the Wellstone Domenici parity act
- Prohibiting discrimination by health insurers against individuals based on health status
- Expanding Medicaid eligibility to everyone below 133 percent of the federal poverty level including childless adults, who would be enrolled in a benchmark plan that would include addiction and mental health benefits at parity.
- Including substance use disorders in the list of national priorities in the strategy to be developed by the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council
- Creating an HHS education and outreach campaign on the benefits of prevention which would require the dissemination of information about the preventive work done by SAMHSA
The Senate bill also includes provisions to build the addiction prevention and treatment and mental health workforces, to include addiction prevention, treatment and mental health service providers as eligible for medical home grants, and to require school-based community health centers to provide addiction and mental health services.
Late Saturday night, the Senate overcame its first hurdle as Democratic leadership was able to secure the 60 votes needed to proceed with the legislation. Formal debate of the bill will begin after the Thanksgiving break.
Once the Senate passes its healthcare bill, the legislation will have to be melded with the bill passed by the House two weeks ago, and passed a final time by both the House and Senate before it can be signed into law by the President. It looks increasingly unlikely that a bill will be on the President’s desk before the end of the year.
We will need a strong advocacy push to ensure that all of the hard-won provisions for addiction and mental health services and providers are a part of the final healthcare reform bill, so please stay tuned for updates and action alerts!!
Senate Confirms SAMHSA Administrator Nominee
On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved Pam Hyde’s nomination as SAMHSA administrator by voice vote, and on Friday she was unanimously approved by the full Senate for the position.
Ms. Hyde comes to SAMHSA from New Mexico, where she served as the Secretary of the New Mexico Human Services Department. Additional information about the new SAMHSA Administrator can be found at:
http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/enetwork/archive/2009/SAMHSA_global_10_....
Join the Campaign!!
These advocacy efforts are just the beginning. As a friend of the substance use disorder field and as someone who believes in the power of advocacy and the reality of recovery, we know that you will find the National Advocacy Campaign for Smarter and More Effective Drug and Alcohol Policies as exciting as we do. In order to make the work of the campaign possible, please consider joining the effort to change alcohol and drug policies. Become a member by making a contribution. To join the campaign, click here. Thank you for your support!
