Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• Senate Finance Committee Releases Health Reform Funding Options; Senator Baucus Discusses Health Care Reform
• Republicans Introduce Health Care Reform Plans
• Other Democratic Legislators Progress Towards Health Care Reform
• Update: Health Care Industry Groups Clarify Commitment to Reducing Health Spending Growth
• Urban Institute Report Says Failure to Institute Health Care Reform Could Result in 66 Million Uninsured Residents
• Daschle Continues to Play Role in Health Care Reform
• Senate Confirms Hamburg as FDA Commissioner
• New Democrat Coalition Seeks Independent Panel to Oversee Comparative Effectiveness Research
• Senate HELP Committee Approves Bill to Place Tobacco Under FDA Regulation
• Senate Approves Supplemental Spending Bill with Funds for Flu Pandemic
• DOJ and States Join Whistle-Blower Lawsuit Accusing Wyeth of Medicaid Fraud
• Health IT Lobby Group Asks HHS to Designate CCHIT as EHR Certification Body
• Report Finds U.S. Residents Will Pay Greater Share of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage in 2009
• HHS and DOJ Expand Health Care Fraud Investigations
• Survey Finds Few Employers Plan to Drop M/SU Coverage In Response to Federal Parity Legislation
• IHS Releases $500 Million in ARRA Health Care Funding
• NEJM Study Finds IOM’s Medical Resident Rest Recommendations Would Cost $2.5 Billion Annually
• Update: UAW and General Motors Agree to Tentative VEBA Deal
• KFF Launches Health Reform Gateway

SAMHSA will release this week’s issue of the Financing News Pulse Tuesday May 26, 2009 because of Memorial Day. 

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• Senate Finance Committee: Financing Health Care Overhaul
  10:00 a.m. May 20, 215 Dirkse
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  10:30 a.m. May 20, 138 Dirksen
• House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: State and Local Pandemic Preparedness
  2:00 p.m. May 20, 2154 Rayburn
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies
  10:00 a.m. May 21, 2362-A Rayburn
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies
  2:00 p.m. May 21, 192 Dirksen

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download SAMHSA's Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 20090526.pdf (818.51 kb)

Table of Contents

National Health Financing News

• President Obama Calls for Additional Taxes to Offset Health Reform Budgeting Error
• President Obama Announces Health Industry Groups Pledge $2 Trillion in Spending Reductions; Groups Say Obama Overstated Pledge
• Senate Finance Committee Releases Proposals for Health Care Reform Including Public Plan Options; Considers Health Reform Options
• Other Legislators Discuss Health Care Reform Options
• MedPAC Reports that Medicare’s Hospital Fund Will be Insolvent by 2017
• President Obama Appoints Thomas Frieden as CDC Director
• Secretary Sebelius Appoints HHS Office of Health Reform Staffers
• Senate HELP Committee Advances FDA Commissioner Nomination
• Senate Confirms ONDCP Director
• Lawmakers Consider Tax Credits for Employers Offering Wellness Programs
• Influenza Pandemic Funds Progress Through Congress
• AHRQ Report Finds Fewer Families Can Afford Health Insurance
• Walk-In Health Clinics Increasingly Affiliated with Hospitals and Medical Centers
• Independent Pharmacies Protest CVS Caremark’s Plan to Charge Higher Copays at Non-CVS Pharmacies
• Pfizer Creates Program to Offer Some Customers Free Prescription Drugs
• Young Adults Among the Fastest Growing Groups of Uninsured
• CMS Awards HMS Medicaid Integrity Program Contract
• Hospital Payment System Fails to Reward Readmission Reductions
• UAB Survey Finds Many Employers Believe Employees Understand the Necessity of Rising Health Insurance Costs
• WellCare Reports First Quarter Loss Due to Fraud Expenses
• Employment Status Affects Health
• HHS Will Announce Specifications for “Meaningful Use” of Health IT Under the ARRA
• KFF Releases New Resources Examining Medicaid as Health Reform Platform, Medicare Buy-In Option, and State-Level Data
• Ford to Sell Stock to Fund VEBA

Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing

• Senate Finance Committee: Health Care Overhaul
  10:00 a.m. May 12, 106 Dirksen
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  10:00 a.m. May 12, 2359 Rayburn
  2:00 p.m. May 12, 2358-C Rayburn
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Medical Device Safety
  2:00 p.m. May 12, 2123 Rayburn
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies: Fiscal 2010 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
  9:45 a.m. May 13, 138 Dirksen
• House Veterans’ Affairs Committee: Innovative Technologies and Treatments for Veterans
  10:00 a.m. May 13, 334 Cannon
• Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: Primary and Specialty Health Care
  10:00 a.m. May 14, 430 Dirksen
• Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal 2009: War, Flu Supplemental
  2:00 p.m. May 14, 106 Dirksen
• House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia: Federal Workers’ Response to the H1N1 Outbreak
  2:00 p.m. May 14, 2154 Rayburn

Around the States: State and Local Behavioral Health Financing News

Download the Weekly Financing News Pulse: Weekly Financing News Pulse final 20090518.pdf (573.28 kb)

The SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services has several resources available concerning mental health parity.

Resources can be found at: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ManagedCare/Parity/default.asp

Title VII of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 is entitled the "Mental Health Parity Act of 1996." This act amends ERISA to establish parity between mental health benefits and medical/surgical benefits for employers that choose to offer both.

Full text of the law (PDF): http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=104_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ204.104.pdf

A detailed summary of the law: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ManagedCare/Parity/Summary.asp  

Consumer Questions and Answers on the Mental Health Parity Act: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ManagedCare/Parity/Consumer.asp 

Employer Questions and Answers on the Mental Health Parity Act: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ManagedCare/Parity/Employer.asp 

Interim Rules HIPPA Mental Health Parity Act; Proposed Rule: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ManagedCare/Parity/PRTYREG.asp 

This report examines the impact of implementing parity within the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program.

Full Report Available at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/parity.htm

This report examines the projected impact of mental health parity legislation in Massachusetts; primarily with respect to projected costs in various scenarios.

Download the full report (pdf): http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dhcfp/r/pubs/mandates/mental_health_parity_report.pdf