WE HAVE LIFTOFF!

BIG WIN FOR BETTER MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN PRIMARY CARE

1 Big Thing to Announce: For the first time there is a new federal law that will pay for primary care doctors and practices to be trained to deliver mental health and addiction treatment for their patients along with physical care, using proven, effective integrated care models. This will greatly increase Americans’ access to mental health care in their medical clinics and paves the way for widespread routine integrated medical-mental health care.

What Are the Changes:
– funds a grant program for primary care physicians and practices to received up to $2 million per year for 5 years (2023-2027) to help them deliver integrated care including screenings, assessments and treatments of mental health and addiction care, and
– requires the federal health agency (HHS) to provide primary care practitioners who have Medicare patients with a comprehensive education program and advising them that integrated mental health care is a covered Medicare benefit.

Why It Matters:

• * patients receive improved quality mental health care more systematically
• * pool of medical doctors and clinicians trained in mental health treatment expands
• * signal to the public and the medical professions that integrated care a priority
• * advocates like NHMH have a strong platform for needed future advocacy

What’s Next: NHMH and our allied patient advocacy organizations are positioned to continue our advocacy for effective proven integrated care being a clinical care reality across the country. We will work to ensure medical practices have the supports/incentives needed in these areas:

• # Quality: define care standards and quality measures for integrated care
• # Payment: include integrated care payment to doctors in the Medicare & Medicaid programs which pay for value of care, not just tasks performed
• # Workers: expand the pool of healthcare worker types trained and enabled to deliver team-based integrated care in medical clinics
• # Technology: incentivize mental health pros to adopt EHRS, coordinate with medical pros, and permanently expand Medicare telehealth coverage.

Go Deeper: For links to: (a) Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, Sections 1301 and 4128 go to www.nhmh.org.