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DGR Telephone:
703-907-7800
DGR Fax:
703-907-1083
DGR Email:
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| DOL Releases New MHPAEA FAQs
On November 17, the Department of Labor (DOL) released additional Frequently Asked Questions on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Law (MHPAEA). These questions can be accessed at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca7.html. While these questions explain in part the application of MHPAEA to health plans, they fall short of addressing scope or a quantitative floor or providing clarity on clinically recognized standards and medical disclosure. Each of these more ambiguous areas has been used as a route by insurers to deny patients access to mental health care and/or reimbursement. As a member of the Parity Implementation Coalition (PIC), the APA will be following up with legislators and drafting a formal response to regulators.
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Domestic Violence
The APA has once again lent its support to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) now moving forward in the Senate. VAWA funds critical programs to protect women and their children from domestic violence and assist with trauma recovery and offer legal assistance. APA member Carol Warshaw, M.D. administers a special resource center, The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health, connected with VAWA, which provides expertise to effectively support women with mental illness who are survivors of domestic abuse. |
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Supercommittee Deadline Approaches
The Thanksgiving deadline for a bipartisan deal on $1.2-$1.5 trillion in deficit reduction is only days away with reports and rumors unclear over whether the 12 member body will produce a plan. If the supercommittee fails to act a process called 'sequestration' takes effect where the $1.2t in cuts is spread across defense and entitlement spending, including an across the board 2% Medicare reimbursement cut for providers. As you know, SGR cuts of nearly 28% are scheduled to take effect January 1st and the APA along with the rest of the physician community is urging Congress to include permanent SGR repeal in the supercommittee plan. |
| Bipartisan Group of Representatives Reject Flawed MedPAC SGR Proposal
Almost 100 members of Congress have joined Representatives Mike Burgess (R-TX) and Gene Green (D-TX) on a letter urging Congress to reject the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) proposal to eliminate the Sustainable Growth Rate by cutting specialty care reimbursement 5.9% a year for three years and freezing payment for seven years afterward. DGR would like to thank APA members who participated in our action alert and asked their Representatives to sign the letter. To see the final letter with signatures, click here.
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Community Advocates Hold Mental Health Funding Symposium
In response to the growing concern of patient access and federal/state budget cuts, mental health stakeholder organizations joined this week to develop a national symposium on mental health funding for Congressional leaders, healthcare staff, and mental health senior executives. The event, titled "Lost: Dollars, People, Hope" was introduced by keynote speaker Tipper Gore and included presentations from APA members Howard Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., Henry Chung, M.D., and Joseph Parks, M.D.
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| APA Submits Comments on the Direct Release of Laboratory Tests to Patients
Just this week, the APA submitted comments in response to a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments Program and HIPAA Privacy proposed rule that would afford patients direct access to their laboratory results. For the most part, APA members wrote in support of this rule. In rare circumstances in which direct release of a patient's laboratory result could pose harm or endangerment to the patient, the APA has asked CMS for a way to supersede the direct provision of laboratory results to the patient. The APA cautioned CMS that a balance must be struck between letting patients own their own health information and not allowing this information to endanger or harm the patients requesting the information. See the APA's comments please click here.
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| Launch of Health Care Innovative Challenge
The Department of Health and Human Services launched the Health Care Innovative Challenge in line with the Obama Administration's "We Can't Wait" job initiative. The program will award grants of $1 million to $30 million over three years to fund innovative projects that design and test new models to deliver better health care, improve care, and reduce health care costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Additionally, the program looks to identify unique models of workforce development, deployment and training. Funded through the Affordable Care Act, the program will be administered under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
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| CMMI Workforce Initiative
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced a $1 billion grant initiative this week designed to strengthen the healthcare workforce while reducing costs incurred by Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollees. Three-year awards ranging from $1 million to $30 million will be given to providers, payers, local governments, and public-private partnerships that plan to meet the following objectives:
- Engage a broad set of innovation partners to identify and test new care delivery and payment models that originate in the field and that produce better care, better health, and reduced cost through improvement for identified target populations.
- Identify new models of workforce development and deployment and related training and education that support new models either directly or through new infrastructure activities.
- Support innovators who can rapidly deploy care improvement models (within six months of award) through new ventures or expansion of existing efforts to new populations of patients, in conjunction (where possible) with other public and private sector partners.
Interested applicants must submit a letter of intent to CMMI by December 19, 2011. Psychiatrists involved in collaborative or integrated care initiatives are encouraged to participate. Further details may be found by clicking here.
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