The National Impact   An update for friends of the National Advocacy Campaign for Smarter and More Effective Alcohol and Drug Policies August/September 2011 In This Issue Essential Health Benefit Recommendations Paper on essential benefits IOM Report Includes LAC Director’s Testimony IOM report  LAC director's testimony Comments, Toolkits and Conferences: Implementing ACA Comments to the CMS Proposed health insurance exchange regulations  Outreach, Ongoing Quick Links The Roadmap for Smarter and More Effective Alcohol and Drug Policies 2009 Benchmarks Opportunities and Threats Join the Campaign Now!         Welcome back to “The National Impact,” our monthly e-newsletter to keep you updated on the campaign’s advocacy efforts! Many thanks to all the supporters who have made our successes possible.  Together, we can dramatically alter the national landscape so that fewer people suffer from alcohol and drug problems, the addicted receive the care they need, and people in recovery can live healthy and productive lives.    Essential Health Benefit Recommendations The Coalition for Whole Health, co-chaired by the Legal Action Center, recently developed recommendations to fully include mental health and substance use disorder services within the Essential Health Benefits framework of the Affordable Care Act. This paper details the benefits that the Coalition believes must be included in the Essential Health Benefits package covered by “new” small employer and individual plans, qualified health plans operating in state Exchanges, and Medicaid expansion plans. Over 150 national, state, and local organizations have endorsed the Coalition’s Essential Health Benefits recommendations. (Please email Sherie Boyd if your organization wants to sign on.)   IOM Report Includes LAC Director’s Testimony The Institute of Medicine, charged with recommending to the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the criteria and methods for determining and updating the ACA’s essential health benefits package, recently issued a report summarizing the two workshops IOM held on the essential health benefit this past year.  Included in the report is the testimony of LAC Director/President Paul Samuels, on behalf of LAC and the Coalition for Whole Health, on the need for substance use disorder and mental health services to be comprehensively included. (His testimony is included in Chapter 7.) All three panelists who presented on the mental health and substance use benefit were clear about the need for a comprehensive benefit, and we’re pleased that the IOM report captures this very well.     Comments, Toolkits and Conferences: Implementing the ACA  LAC staff recently developed comments on behalf of the Coalition for Whole Health to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on proposed guidance on Medicare coverage of alcohol screening and counseling and depression screening as preventive services.  The Coalition for Whole Health is also preparing comments in response to the proposed health insurance exchange regulations that will include recommendations on how to best meet the needs of people with substance use and mental health disorders.  SAAS continues its work on ACA implementation at the state level and will soon be releasing a toolkit designed t o help advocates grow their coalitions and reach out to essential policymakers as regulations and systems are designed.  LAC and SAAS leaders were invited to participate in a two-day conference, “Workforce Issues: Integrating Substance Use Services into Primary Care” sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. This important meeting brought together key policy-makers and stakeholders to discuss how best to strengthen the health workforce, including the substance use disorder service and primary care workforces, to ensure that the needs of people with substance use disorders are well met. SAAS was invited to participate in the SAMHSA-sponsored Employment Strategy Conference, coordinated in part by LAC, which brought together stakeholders from business, mental health, and addiction/recovery services to identify key issues related to developing a public health approach to mental health and substance use prevention, treatment and recovery in the workplace. SAAS was also invited to participate in the Health Information Technology Regional Forum,  which brought together state teams for a day and a half to discuss HIT resources and options, share experiences and set the stage for ongoing discussions. The forum included presentations from Dr. Westley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and LAC Vice President Anita Marton.    Outreach, Ongoing We continue to help educate the field about implementation of the ACA, most recently through: Presentations at the very successful July SAAS/NIATx conference in Boston and  state-wide conferences in Kentucky and Missouri. Webinars by SAAS on provider preparation for implementation of the ACA. Future webinars will include HIT, Compliance, Marketing and Networking. Our advocacy efforts will swing into an even higher gear this fall, so stay tuned! 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 secure online contribution today (and select the National Advocacy Campaign from the drop-down box). Thank you for your support! Innovators Illinois Alcoholism & Drug Dependence Association • Jason R. Flom   Champions The Association of Substance Abuse Programs in Texas • Community Partnership of Southern Arizona • The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation • Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceutical    Founders Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. • Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc. •  Association for Behavioral Healthcare of Massachusetts • Baltimore Behavioral Health • Bridges for America  •  Terry Brown • Charles Bush California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources • CARON-Comprehensive Addiction Treatment Recovery for Life • Randolph E. Cloud • Colorado Association of Alcohol & Drug Service Providers, Inc. • John Coppola • County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrators Association of California • DePaul Treatment Centers, Inc. • Richard J. Dillon • Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania • Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association • Florida Certification Board • Debra Gilmour • Adam Harrington • Cynthia Humphrey • JBS International, Inc • Robert B. Levy • Maine  • Mississippi Association of Addiction Services  •  Richard J. Nance • National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence - Maryland • Nevada Alliance for Addictive Disorders Advocacy, Prevention and Treatment Service • Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Services Providers • Operation PAR, Inc. • Oregon Prevention Education and Recovery Association • Proaction Behavioral Health Alliance • Michael F. Reagan • Rosecrance Substance Abuse Treatment Centers • Paul N. Samuels • Arthur J. Schut • Julie Shepard • Spectrum Programs, Inc/Miami Behavioral Health Center, Inc. • David Sterling • The Harbor Behavioral Health Care Institute • The Refuge, a Healing Place • TopLine Professional Strategies, LLC • Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities of Illinois • Utah Behavioral Healthcare Network • Thomas Van Wagner • Becky Vaughn • Washington Association of Alcoholism and Addiction Programs   Friends BayCare Behavioral Health  •  Central Florida Behavioral Health Network  •  Drug Abuse Treatment Association  •  EPIC Community Services •  Franklin-Williamson Human Services, Inc. • Gateway Community Services  •  Patrick Maloy • Craig Peck • The South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse • Sutton Place Behavioral Health  •  Parker Thomson  •  Tri-County Human Services  •  The Village South (Westcare)     Donors Herbert Barish McKyle Clyburn • Thomas M. Del Vecchio • George Demarest • The Janssen Foundation • Beth Lang • Bruce Lesman • Barrett L. Silver • John B. Trammell • Arthur Wallace Thank you for supporting the National Advocacy Campaign!