How the VA Fails Veterans on Mental Health

A ProPublica analysis of 313 studies conducted by the VA’s inspector general in recent years shows repeated failures in behavioral healthcare. The breakdowns have had fatal consequences.

The problems appear to be systemic. Over and over, the hospitals and clinics in the VA’s sprawling health care network have fallen short when it comes to treating people with mental illness.

The VA is far from the only health care organization that has had difficulty filling critical behavioral health positions amid a national shortage of providers in recent years, but the VA in particular has struggled to compete for providers.

CMS Approves ‘Groundbreaking’ Behavioral Health Integration Waiver for New York

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved a $7.5 billion waiver for New York, allowing the state to integrate primary, behavioral health, and health-related social services over the next three years.

One of the main goals of the waiver is to help boost population health and equity outcomes for high-risk Medicaid enrollees, including children, post-partum patients and people with disabilities.

In addition to boosting behavioral health integration, the waiver will also focus on new programs to help address health-related social needs. The waiver also focuses on increasing the number of Medicaid providers in the state.

If the state’s Medicaid-to-Medicare provider rate ratio goes below 80% in behavioral health, primary care, or obstetrics care, the state will be required to increase and sustain Medicaid-fee-for-service provider base rates and Medicaid managed care payments.

States are Limiting Gender-Affirming Care For Adults, Too

Amid a wave of state restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, some red states are also limiting treatment for adults.

Why it matters: Many states that enacted limits on transition-related care for minors in recent years said they were focused on protecting children.

• But three states have broadly limited or sought to broadly limit transition care for adults. Transgender rights advocates expect state lawmakers to pursue more restrictions on adults this year.
• Mainstream medical societies endorse gender-affirming care, as research shows that the care is safe and can be life-saving.

Driving the news: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last week announced new draft regulations that civil rights advocates say would be the strictest limits on adult transition care in the country if they take effect.

• The rules would require minors and adults to get approval from an endocrinologist, psychiatrist and bioethicist before receiving gender-affirming care.
• Providers would also have to report to the state each gender dysphoria diagnosis, any time they initiate treatment and details about the cessation of treatment, according to the draft regulations.
• DeWine, after last month vetoing legislation that would ban transition care for minors, also issued an executive order barring transition-related surgeries for minors.
• "There are things we need to do to protect children and adults, and those things go well beyond" the bill he vetoed, DeWine said during a press conference last week. The Ohio House and Senate are expected to override his veto this month.

OhioMHAS Virtual Data Forum — January 31

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) is pleased to announce our next Data Forum on January 31, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The purpose of the Data Forum is to:

• highlight new data resources, share information about current and upcoming data projects;
• facilitate opportunities for peer-to-peer learning;
• demonstrate how data can be used in the daily practice of ADAMH Boards and Behavioral Health providers; and
• discuss local needs related to data and data infrastructure.

The Data Forum series is intended to provide a venue for sharing timely and useful best practices, examples, and resources for ADAMH Boards and behavioral health providers that may be implementing or updating their own data systems and data analytic capabilities.

Intended Audience

This resource is intended for any stakeholders who are interested in learning about data and data resources, including ADAMH Board and Behavioral Health provider leadership and staff who work with, manage, and communicate data at all levels.

JANUARY DATA FORUM AGENDA

1. Overview – Ohio Quick Response Team (QRT) Data Dashboard and the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Data Dashboard: Ellen Augspurger, Cordata Healthcare Innovations, LLC.
2. New Data Product – Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services Data Product Finder
3. Update – Data Modernization Project

Click HERE to register. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions.