Healthcare Update
The National Impact - 3/5/10
Healthcare Reform Update: Congressional Leadership Makes Final Push to Pass Legislation
Congress and the President continue to work towards passage of final healthcare reform legislation. Recently the President has attempted to revive the stalled legislation and the Democratic Congressional leadership is working to finish work on reform and get final bills to the President in the next few weeks.
The National Impact - 2/3/10
President Obama’s FY 2011 Budget Released
On February 1st, the Obama Administration released the FY 2011 federal budget. The President’s budget includes funding requests for federal drug and alcohol prevention, treatment, recovery and research programming and for programs serving people with criminal records. Under the President’s FY 2011 budget, programs in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would receive $3.7 billion, a $110 million increase over FY 2010 funding. The 2011 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.
Health Reform Update - 1/15/10
Passage of a final health care package may be imminent (see below for an update), so action today is critical!
Earlier this week, over 110 organizations from the addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, mental health, public health, children's advocacy, HIV/AIDS, criminal justice, civil rights and housing communities wrote to the leadership of the House and Senate, emphasizing the need to include key provisions for mental health and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery support services in the final national healthcare reform package. Click here to read this letter to Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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
Health Reform Update - 11/13/09
Update: House Passes Healthcare Bill
After months of work, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of healthcare reform legislation, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, on Saturday, November 7th. The vote was 220-215, with 39 Democrats joining all but one Republican in voting against the bill.
As a result of the strong advocacy efforts of the Coalition for Whole Health and many others, the healthcare reform bill passed by the House contains a number of very good provisions to expand substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support services and mental health services for millions of Americans. Specifically, the healthcare reform bill passed by the House:
- Includes substance use disorder and mental health benefits in the minimum benefit package that all qualified health plans will be required to offer
Health Reform Update - 10/16/09
Update and Status of Healthcare Reform Legislation
Healthcare reform legislation continues to move forward in Congress. This week, the Senate Finance Committee approved their healthcare reform bill by a 14 to 9 vote. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) voted with the Committee Democrats to report the bill.
Work is now focused on reconciling the Senate Finance bill with the Senate HELP Committee bill. Similar work is ongoing in the House, as Congressional leaders work to meld the House Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce bills. Once the bills are combined, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will score the final House and Senate bills before floor debate and votes will occur later this month.
Health Reform Update - 9/11/09
LAC and SAAS Participate in Recovery Month Events with Leadership from ONDCP and SAMHSA
This week, Legal Action Center and SAAS participated in a number of events celebrating SAMHSAs Recovery Month, including the press conference to release the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), and the annual Recovery Month luncheon. Event participants and speakers included ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske, SAMHSAs Acting Director Rear Admiral Eric B. Broderick, Director of SAMHSAs Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Dr. H. Westley Clark, and Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA).
The NSDUH, which found that in 2008 20.8 million people in need of treatment for a problem with alcohol or other drugs did not receive it, can be found at: http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm. A full schedule of Recovery Month events and a toolkit of resources can be found at: http://www.recoverymonth.gov/.
Health Reform Update - 8/28/09
LAC and SAAS Leadership Participate in Session with ONDCP Director and Deputy Director
This week, leadership of Legal Action Center and SAAS were invited to participate in a listening session at the ONDCP with Director Gil Kerlikowske and Deputy Director Tom McLellan. Session participants, including leaders from most of the leading addiction national organizations and many education groups, were asked to provide thoughts on what should be included in the upcoming ONDCP National Drug Strategy.
Health Reform Update - 7/27/09
Work on the National Advocacy Campaign continues both around the country and in Washington, DC. As you are probably aware, healthcare reform is one of the big issues on the Hill right now. The Legal Action Center (LAC) and State Association of Addiction Services (SAAS) are working to ensure that any reform in healthcare in this country includes the full range of drug and alcohol addiction prevention, treatment and recovery support for all in need of services.
To strengthen our efforts, LAC and SAAS have joined forces with the other leading national addiction and mental health advocacy organizations to form the Coalition for Whole Health. The Coalition, brought together by Legal Action Center, has:
