NEWSLETTER
Volume 1, Issue 36 - September 10, 2021
Legislature Concludes 2021 Activity
Later tonight, the Legislature will conclude its work for the year. Bills of interest sent to the Governor include, but aren't limited to, the following (Note: some bills were acted on after this week's newsletter was sent; those bills will be reported on next week):
AB 118 (Kamlager) - Establishes the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (C.R.I.S.E.S.) Act Pilot Grant Program to expand the participation of community-based organizations in an emergency response role for vulnerable populations. CSAP supports this bill.
AB 369 (Kamlager) - Would increase access to health and social services for people experiencing homelessness by requiring the Department of Health Care Services to incorporate street medicine into existing healthcare infrastructure, waiving ID requirements for providing care to unsheltered populations, and suspending the practice of sweeping encampments, which displaces the homeless and often results in the destruction of their property. These changes will remove barriers to accessing care by providing direct, comprehensive care to Californians on streets and under bridges where they reside. CSAP supports this bill.
AB 451 (Arambula) - Would require a psychiatric unit of a general acute care hospital, a psychiatric health facility with more than 16 beds that is not county-operated, and an acute psychiatric hospital, to accept a transfer of a person with a psychiatric emergency medical condition, regardless of whether the facility operates an emergency department, if the facility has appropriate facilities and qualified personnel available to provide the services.
AB 1331 (Irwin) - Would require the Director of Health Care Services to appoint a full-time Statewide Director of Crisis Services and assign the position various policy, planning, and monitoring duties related to the creation of a comprehensive, integrated statewide network of crisis behavioral health services.
AB 1357 (Cervantes) - Would require the State Department of Public Health to develop and maintain on its internet website a referral network of community-based mental health providers and support services addressing postpartum depression, prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care, neonatal and infant care services, and support groups, to improve access to postpartum depression screening, referral, treatment, and support services in medically underserved areas and areas with demonstrated need. CSAP supports this bill.
SB 221 (Wiener) - This year's parity bill, would codify existing timely access to care standards for health plans and health insurers, apply these requirements to Medi-Cal managed care plans, add a standard for non-urgent follow-up appointments for nonphysician mental health care or substance use disorder providers that is within 10 business days of the prior appointment, and, prohibit contracting providers and employees from being disciplined for informing patients about timely access standards. CSAP supports this bill.
SB 224 (Portantino) - Would require each school district, county office of education, state special school, and charter school that offers one or more courses in health education to pupils in middle school or high school to include in those courses instruction in mental health that meets the requirements of the bill, as specified. The bill would require that instruction to include, among other things, reasonably designed instruction on the overarching themes and core principles of mental health. The bill would require that instruction and related materials to, among other things, be appropriate for use with pupils of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and ethnic and cultural backgrounds, pupils with disabilities, and English learners. The bill would require the State Department of Education to develop a plan to expand mental health instruction in California public schools on or before January 1, 2024.
SB 395 (Caballero) - Would enact the Healthy Outcomes and Prevention Education Act, which would impose the California Electronic Cigarette Excise Tax on the sale of electronic cigarettes and direct proceeds of the tax to various purposes. Proceeds would be distributed as follows: 18% for tobacco control programs under Proposition 99; 12% for Proposition 10; 48% for Proposition 56 Medi-Cal Physicians and Dentists Loan Repayment Act (emphasis added), of which 70% is allocated to the physician payment pool and 30% to the dentist payment pool; 5% for Health Professions Career Opportunity Program administered by the Department of Health Care Access and Information; 7% to the University of California to support the joint program in medical education between the University of California, Merced, and the University of California, San Francisco at Fresno; and 10% to the Small and Rural Hospital Relief Fund.
SB 465 (Eggman) - Would require the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to report to specified legislative committees the outcomes for people receiving community mental health services under a full-service partnership model, as specified, including any barriers to receiving the data and recommendations to strengthen California’s use of full-service partnerships to reduce incarceration, hospitalization, and homelessness. CSAP supports this bill.
Here's the latest bill matrix. Please note that the status of some bills was still in flux as we went to press today. Next week we will provide to you the "final final".
If You're More Generally Interested in What Did / Did Not Happen in 2021 -
Politico did a great piece this morning, we are excerpting it for you here:
"That said, it’s notable how most of the prominent 2021 items are mostly either off the table or already on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. Legislators have already sent Newsom a major housing density tandem; a bill to regulate Amazon distribution centers; a permanent universal-mail-elections bill; the fruits of a broadband buildout deal; an Ethnic Studies 3.0 attempt; measures letting California decertify wayward peace officers and limit gang enhancements (another enhancement-nixing bill narrowly passed the Assembly on Thursday); an effort to curb nondisclosure agreements; a requirement for toy and child care retailers to provide gender-neutral sections; labor’s push to expand farmworker unionization; and a proposal penalizing protesters who disrupt vaccination sites.
Many of the session’s other big bills crumbled or stalled before this point. An effort to ban fracking and separate oil wells from schools failed in its first committee. The house-of-origin deadline saw the demise of efforts to curtail single-use plastics, regulate fast-food franchises, tax ammunition sales, overhaul solar energy incentives and offer essential workers “hero pay” bonuses. Proposals to institute single-payer health care and decriminalize psychedelics will wait until next year. An effort to ban conflict-of-interest prosecutor donations was halted, as were efforts to create a state health care cost office, prohibit corporate political donations, rein in charter schools and make it easier for recall targets to claw back recall petition signatures. Housing bills were bottled up by an ongoing inter-house construction labor dispute. High-speed rail money negotiations are on hold for now. A bail reform bill is dead."
More State Budget Actions on Mental Health
Additional Behavioral Health Appropriations in New Budget Trailer Bills -
As we said many times earlier this summer, the Governor and the Legislature have continued to negotiate state budget items. Yesterday, approximately sixteen additional state budget trailer bills were sent to the Governor. Of note to you:
- Authorizes General Fund expenditure authority of $7.5 million in 2021-22 for the Department of Health Care Services to support short-term residential therapeutic programs with more than 16 beds that are ineligible for federal funding due to the federal exclusion on funding for Institutes for Mental Disease.
- Increases by $10.4 million General Fund for the Department of Social Services to assist Short-Term Residential Treatment Program providers to reduce capacity to continue receiving Medicaid funding, due to federal law changes.
- Authorizes federal fund expenditure authority of $1.6 million for DHCS to support behavioral health services for individuals impacted by the state’s wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, pursuant to federal grants awarded to the state by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- Authorizes federal fund expenditure authority of $6.9 million for DHCS to support testing and other COVID-19 response activities for substance use disorders services providers and organizations, pursuant to a federal grant awarded to the state by SAMHSA.
AB 988 / Suicide Prevention Hotline -
Making sure everyone is aware that the $20 million for this purpose isn't listed above since the Newsom Administration believes they can repurpose some previously unallocated federal funding and no state budget action is required. Also, since we reported last week that the Newsom Administration sees Didi Hirsch as integral to the roll out in California, we had some members ask who, or what, is Didi Hirsch. To make sure you're aware, see here.
Housing the Homeless -
Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom’s Administration announced the next phase of its nation-leading homeless housing initiative, Homekey, with the release of funds from the Governor's $2.75 billion investment to expand the program to purchase and rehabilitate buildings – including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings, tiny homes, and other properties – and convert them into up to 14,000 more permanent, long-term housing units for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Homekey prioritizes speed and cost-efficiency by making competitive grants available to local governments across the state. More specifically, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released the latest Notice of Funding Availability for local governments to apply for Homekey funding.
CSAP / DBs in Continuum of Care Stakeholders Group
This week, representatives of CSAP, NCPS, OCPS, and SDPS participated in a stakeholder meeting with representatives of the State Department of Health Care Services and Manatt Health to discuss gaps in California's behavioral health system and the continuum of care. This was one of multiple stakeholder groups being convened by DHCS and Manatt. CSAC and the DBs were joined by representatives of the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association, and the California Psychological Association. Other groups will include state hospitals, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association, community based providers, tribal interests, consumers, and substance abuse providers. These stakeholder meetings will lead to the release of a report in November, which the Administration and the Legislature are expected to act upon to some degree. Your CSAP and DB representatives were amazing and well received by the state's representatives. CSAP's GA Committee and Board will discuss written follow up on this vital effort. We welcome every member of CSAP to provide input on what you see as current deficiencies in California's continuum of care.
Federal / APA Update
CSAP Weighs in on Proposed Federal Rule Regarding Telehealth -
CSAP members requested that we weigh in at the federal level to specifically support CMS’ proposal to make permanent coverage of audio-only telehealth services as it has over the course of the public health emergency, extending it to include outpatient evaluation and management services, and recommend the final rule also make clear this applies to substance use and co-occurring disorders and not just mental health. The Board approved this request. You can view CSAP's letter here.
Parity / APA Challenges Members to Contact Legislators on Two Signature Issues -
By targeting a chamber with a specific pro-psychiatry message each week, we are focusing lawmakers' attention on the important steps they can take to address the critical mental health crisis facing America. Last week, the majority of Senators were asked to support access to telehealth. Now we are challenging you to tell your federal lawmakers to support the Parity Implementation Assistance Act (S. 1962/H.R. 3753).
Last year, we supported the historic enactment of legislation that will make mental health and substance use disorder treatment more accessible by providing state and federal agencies with the authority they need to enforce the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Now states need the resources necessary to do the job right. The Parity Implementation Assistance Act would provide $25 million annually to state insurance departments for parity implementation. Join your colleagues and tell your lawmakers to support the Parity Implementation Assistance Act today!
Livestream on Suicide Prevention During COVID
Date/Time: Wed, September 22, 2021, 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. EST / 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. PST
During National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will host a livestream event on suicide prevention during the pandemic, focusing on unemployment, youth, and other population subgroups who may be experiencing elevated risk.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that overall suicide death rates have remained steady or have even fallen during the pandemic. However, the pandemic has not affected all Americans equally. Job loss, housing instability, food insecurity, and other risk factors for poor outcomes have disproportionately impacted minority communities. Data from some states suggest the number of African Americans dying by suicide increased in the early days of the pandemic. Also, recently CDC reported that emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts started to increase among adolescents ages 12 to 17—especially among girls—during the pandemic.
This discussion will be led by:
- Stephen O’Connor, Ph.D., chief of the Suicide Prevention Research Program in the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research
- Lynsay Ayer, Ph.D., NIMH Senior Advisor on Youth and Suicide Prevention
- Rajeev Ramchand, Ph.D., NIMH Senior Advisor on Epidemiology and Suicide Prevention
Participating is easy.
- Watch the livestream event on NIMH’s Facebook or Twitter feeds. You must have either a Facebook or Twitter account to watch.
- Follow NIMH on Facebook or Twitter for updates on the livestream event and other information about mental health research.
- Refresh NIMH’s Facebook or Twitter feeds at 3:30 p.m. ET on September 22nd to watch the livestream discussion.
- NIMH will provide sign language interpreters.
The livestream will be archived on NIMH’s website and Facebook page so you can access it after the event is over.
Worth a Read
|
