PA Receives $886K Award in CCBHC Behavioral Disorder Funding
By - It is perhaps becoming increasingly difficult to peruse the news without stumbling across a story on behavioral health. Whether bombs are falling in Boston or bullets are flying across a college campus, both political debates and Monday morning water cooler discussion are becoming more focused on how to best address behavioral health issues.
Perhaps $23 million can help create meaningful and actionable healthcare change. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) – in collaboration with both the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) – recently awarded an $886,200 grant to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) for the planning of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).
Says Ted Dallas, DHS Secretary, "This grant will allow Pennsylvania to further bridge the gap between physical and behavioral health and enable us to treat all health issues equally and comprehensively.”
Through the establishment of trust and better serving those within a local community setting, outcomes and health will resultantly improve, Dallas adds. "We are eager to continue this process with the help of these funds," he maintains.
Pennsylvania’s award, the first of a two-phase process, is made possible via the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 which actively promotes a “comprehensive effort to integrate behavioral health with physical health care.”
As RevCycleIntelligence.com reported, SAMHSA will award a maximum of nearly $23 million across 24 states to boost planning efforts to certify community behavioral health clinics through the active promotion of mental and substance use disorder treatment. Said SAMHSA Acting Administrator, Kana Enomoto, $23 million in planning grants are a “game changer.”
Oregon and Alaska will both receive over $700,000 from SAMHSA. Nevada will receive over $900,000. To receive over $980,000 are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia.
Within the state of Pennsylvania, the planning will be used for CCBHC certification, stakeholder feedback acquisition, the creation of potential payment systems for demonstration reimbursable services, and application preparation for demonstration program participation, says a PR Newswire press release.
CCBHCs will serve those adults with serious mental illness, seriously emotionally disturbed children, and those battling various substance use disorders will be aided through CCBHC initiatives, the press release adds.
Through a wide range of treatment, prevention, and wellness services, such as “intensive, person-centered, evidence-based screen, assessment, [and] diagnostics,” it is hopeful those with behavioral health issues will be able to receive the high quality care they need to maintain a normalized and peaceful quality of life.
Mental and behavioral health matters are a prominent facet of the healthcare industry. Mental healthcare costs for adults within the last 6 years or so topped $48 billion annually. Healthcare expenses for 28 million individuals from 2009 to 2011 were directly associated with mental health diagnoses. Private insurers paid for one-third of adult mental health disorder expenditures during this time frame.
State general fund dollars have “historically” supported states’ programs and services for those individuals in need of mental and behavioral health services.
Regarding substance abuse matters, healthcare providers and lawmakers have been recently focused on reducing physician and prescription fraud.
It is the proactive management on behalf of patients who have a strong support system in place, such as the one SAMHSA plans, that will hopefully advance the healthcare industry, in turn, keeping behavioral health issues out of the daily newspaper headlines.
