News from NASADAD
- NASADAD releases fact sheet on alcohol
- NASADAD releases fact sheet on cocaine
- NASADAD attends congressional briefing on the NIH grant process
Around the Agencies
- SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Targeted Capacity Expansion: Medication Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid grants
- HHS Secretary Burwell Testifies before Congress
- SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Campus Suicide Prevention grants
- SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Capacity Building Initiative for Substance Abuse (SA) and HIV Prevention Services for At-Risk Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth and Young Adults grants
- CMS announces successful end-to-end ICD-10 testing
In the News
- Small States struggle to fund healthcare exchanges
- Republicans release legislation proposing to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
News from NASADAD
NASADAD releases fact sheet on alcohol
NASADAD announced the release of the fact sheet on Friday, February 27th. The fact sheet provides information on national trends in alcohol use and admissions to treatment, as well as the public health impacts of alcohol use, particularly on youth and adolescents. Alcohol is by far the most used drug with more than 136.9 million Americans reporting that they currently use alcohol according to data from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Roughly 16.5 million Americans report heavy alcohol use. The fact sheet also provides information about State substance abuse agencies and their efforts to fund evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives on alcohol use and substance abuse generally. NASADAD utilized data and research findings from a variety of sources including the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Monitoring the Future survey, the Treatment Episode Dataset (TEDS), and a variety of resources from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
NASADAD releases fact sheet on cocaine
NASADAD announced the release of the fact sheet on Friday, February 27th. The fact sheet provides information on national trends in cocaine use and admissions to treatment, as well as the health impacts of cocaine use. Roughly 1.5 million Americans report past month use of cocaine according to data from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). More than half of those individuals were between the ages of 18 and 34. The fact sheet also provides information about past prevention efforts surrounding cocaine use and information about State substance abuse agencies and their efforts to fund evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives. NASADAD utilized data and research findings from a variety of sources including the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Monitoring the Future survey, the Treatment Episode Dataset (TEDS), and a variety of resources from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
NASADAD attends congressional briefing on the NIH grant process
The briefing was sponsored by the Coalition to Promote Research (CPR), a group of medical organizations including the American Psychological Association, American Cancer Society Action Network, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, and was attended by Brian Denten, Public Policy Intern. The briefing discussed the National Institute of Health (NIH)’s process for awarding grant money. Speakers noted the importance of continued investment in medical research, and suggested that NIH requires increased federal funding. NIH receives $30 billion in federal funding annually, and falls under discretionary spending. NIH has not received an increase in appropriations since 2003.
Presenters:
- Howard Kurtzman, PhD; American Psychological Association
- Keith Yamamoto, PhD; University of California – San Francisco
Around the Agencies
SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Targeted Capacity Expansion: Medication Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction grants
SAMHSA is now accepting applications for FY 2015 Targeted Capacity Expansion: Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction grants. This program provides funding to States for the enhancement of treatment service capacity. SAMHSA’s primary goals for this program include increasing the number of people receiving treatment services in combination with FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for opioid use disorders, increasing the number of people receiving integrated care, and decreasing total illicit drug use within 6 months. Applications are due by Friday, May 8, 2015. Grantees will be awarded an anticipated amount of up to $1,000,000.
HHS Secretary Burwell testifies before Congress
Sylvia Matthews Burwell, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to discuss the President’s HHS budget proposal for fiscal year 2016. Secretary Burwell touched on a number of the President’s priorities, but made special mention of the budget’s inclusion of $99 million for activities related to the opioid epidemic. This includes funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others. SAMHSA proposals include an additional $13 million for the Targeted Capacity Expansion grant created in last year’s budget that provides grants to States to expand opioid treatment capacity where medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an allowable use; a new $12 million grant program to reverse opioid overdose, including purchasing naloxone; and $10 million for the Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (SPF-Rx) program.
SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Campus Suicide Prevention grants
SAMHSA is now accepting applications for FY 2015 Campus Suicide Prevention grants. Grant funds should be used to help colleges and universities expand capacity and infrastructure to help students suffering from mental illness. Programs supported by grant money include mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and substance abuse prevention. Applications are due by Monday, April 20, 2015. Grantees will be awarded an anticipated amount of up to $102,000.
SAMHSA now accepting applications for FY 2015 Capacity Building Initiative for Substance Abuse (SA) and HIV Prevention Services for At-Risk Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth and Young Adults grants
SAMHSA is now accepting applications for FY 2015 Capacity Building Initiative (CBI) for Substance Abuse (SA) and HIV Prevention Services for At-Risk Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth and Young Adults grants. This program assists States in building a foundation for delivering quality and accessible HIV prevention services. Grantees must combine education and awareness programs, social marketing campaigns, and HIV and viral hepatitis (VH) testing services. Applications are due by Thursday, April 23, 2015. Grantees will be awarded an anticipated amount of up to $300,000.
CMS announces successful end-to-end ICD-10 testing
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the successful testing of ICD-10 claim submission this past week. ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes will be required with all Medicare and other health claims beginning October 1st. Around 660 health care providers submitted about 15,000 test claims. The majority of claims were accepted. Rejected claims were attributed to errors unrelated to ICD-10 form submission. Two more testing periods will be conducted before October 1st.
In the News
Small States struggle to fund healthcare exchanges
Smaller States such as Hawaii and Rhode Island are struggling to fund their healthcare exchanges, as Governing.com reported last week. Beginning this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prohibits the use of federal funds for State exchanges. States initially relied on these funds to develop their exchanges, and are now struggling to find new sources of revenue. Smaller States receive less tax revenue than larger States despite having similar fixed costs, making their exchanges difficult to fund.
Republicans release legislation proposing to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Congressional Republicans released a discussion draft of legislation to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) worked on the legislation. In addition to extending CHIP funding, the proposal maintains the current formula for allotting CHIP funds to States; and eliminates the 23% Federal Medical Assistance Percentage increase scheduled for 2016.
Should you have any questions, or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Robert Morrison, Executive Director, (202) 293-0090 or Colleen Haller, Public Policy Associate, at (202) 293-0090.