The National Impact: Week of May 4, 2010

Health Information Technology Legislation (H.R. 5040) Introduced in the House; Bill Would Make Addiction and Mental Health Service Providers Eligible for HIT Funds

On April 14th, Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) introduced H.R. 5040, the Health Information Technology Extension for Behavioral Health Services Act of 2010, to make certain addiction and mental health service providers eligible to receive certain health information technology (HIT) funds. These funds include HIT resources provided through last year’s stimulus legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated HIT funds to many health service providers but excluded most providers of addiction and mental health services from eligibility. Click here for a summary of H.R. 5040 and full text and status of the bill can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov..

Additional co-sponsors of H.R. 5040 are needed to ensure the legislation moves forward in Congress. Take action today! Click here for a legislative alert to secure additional co-sponsors of H.R. 5040.

SAAS and LAC Leadership Meet with Federal Partners

Over the past few weeks, SAAS and LAC leadership have joined other members of the substance use disorder and mental health communities at several strategy meetings hosted by SAMHSA and other federal agencies as they seek input from the field on a variety of issues. The meeting topics have included healthcare reform implementation, health information technology, and ensuring the addiction and mental health workforce is prepared to meet future demands.

SAAS and Legal Action Center also attended a hearing by the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in which ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske and others testified. The hearing, “ONDCP’s Fiscal Year 2011 National Drug Control Budget: Are We Still Funding a War on Drugs?” can be watched here.

SAAS and Legal Action Center continue to work closely with SAMHSA, ONDCP, and our other federal partners to advocate for strong addiction-related policies.

SAAS and LAC Submit Comments on Parity, Funding and SSI/DI Eligibility

• Parity: This week SAAS and Legal Action Center submitted comments in response to request from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury on the Interim Final Rule on the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Click here to read the comments.
• Funding: Recently SAAS and Legal Action Center submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies advocating for the field’s top funding priorities for programs within the Committee’s jurisdiction, including SAMHSA’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SAPTBG), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA). Click here to read the testimony.
• SSI/DI Eligibility for Individuals with Substance Use Disorders: SAAS and Legal Action Center recently submitted detailed comments to the Social Security Administration in response to a Federal Register notice request for information concerning how the SSA determines eligibility for SSI and SSDI benefits for individuals with substance use disorders and related disabilities. Click here for the comments.