What is Congress’s $250M Behavioral Health Proposal All About?

When behavioral health was left behind in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for meaningful use, our industry felt snubbed. Now with mental health taking hold in the national consciousness, we are happy to hear some members of congress trying to fix that, at least in part, with a new proposal.

What Exactly is Being Proposed?

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has proposed a $250 million pilot program for extending meaningful use and other HITECH programs to behavioral health providers.

Who will this affect?

The pilot program will test these incentives on a small number of psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, clinical psychologists and substance use treatment providers. If the pilot goes well, the incentives could be expanded to all professionals in those categories.

Is this a done deal?

Unfortunately, no. It’s not a done deal. Some members of congress believe that even the relatively low cost of this pilot program is too high. That’s before they get to the cost of making these changes permanent, which is estimated at $5 billion over the next ten years. Also, the bill is still being processed by various committees, meaning it could change quite a bit before the House or Senate vote on it.

We hope congress will come to grasp the importance of behavioral health to the health of our nation and will make sure behavioral health providers are included in incentive programs. We’ll be monitoring this closely.