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Policy Areas

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The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) has reported that currently there is an ongoing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio. The first case was identified October 22, 2022, and as of December 20, there are over 80 confirmed cases. There is concern that there will be cases spreading into neighboring states, including Pennsylvania.

The measles outbreak in Ohio, combined with the predicted seasonal increase in internationally-imported measles cases, is of special concern. In the United States, most cases of measles occur in people who have travelled abroad and import measles into the United States. Typically, the number of these cases increases from midwinter through spring.

Read the Health Alert to learn more.

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The Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Office of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) and the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) host a quarterly Statewide Positive Approaches & Practices Meeting. This meeting aims to provide the most recent research and resources for people with mental health and behavioral challenges, intellectual disabilities, autism, and other developmental disabilities to live an everyday life.

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. The topic is employment. See the flyer for details.

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Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) has approved RCPA’s request to review the RCPA IBHS Regulatory Review Recommendations within the context of the current IBHS regulations.

The premise of the recommendations addresses the challenges and barriers IBHS providers have faced in creating the staffing infrastructures and meeting the burdensome operational protocols for regulatory compliance. The overreaching nature of the regulations, coupled with the impact of the pandemic, has caused great strain on an already depleted behavioral health workforce. These system stressors limit the ability to provide vital, quality services to children and families. Due to the prohibition for the use of waiting lists, it is difficult to capture the true number of children and families going without these essential services. We contend there are thousands of children across the Commonwealth with unmet treatment needs and written orders for IBHS services who await care.

The current lack of access to care is a result of the workforce crisis and operational requirements of implementing the regulations. We feel these access issues and children waiting for services are compelling reasons, in the interest of the public, to merit a review of the regulations. We have also provided these recommendations to OMHSAS, the HealthChoices BHMCOs, and leadership in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

RCPA extends its gratitude to our members and those who have supported this process as well as the IRRC for their review. There is no current timeframe for the review, as there are many other, similar regulatory review requests on the docket. With that said, we remain vigilant in our efforts and seek partnership and collaboration with all stakeholders to address the current crisis.

If you have any questions, please contact RCPA Mental Health Policy Director Jim Sharp.

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In an effort to provide additional information on a new provider type recently announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a Medicare Learning Network (MLN) fact sheet was released. This new provider type, Rural Emergency Hospitals (REH), is a new Medicare Part A provider type. Starting January 1, 2023, Medicare will pay for Medicare-enrolled REHs to deliver emergency hospital, observation, and other services to Medicare patients on an outpatient basis. Additional information, including how to become an REH, billing, payment, reporting quality data, etc. is available in the fact sheet.

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Image by DarkmoonArt_de from Pixabay

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) recently released the following Save the Date notice:

Please join the Administration for Community Living (ACL) in observance of Brain Injury Awareness Month. ACL will be hosting a virtual Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Partners Day on February 28, 2023, from 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

Each year, under what was previously called TBI Stakeholder Day, ACL convenes interested parties to discuss important issues around TBI services, supports, and systems and to learn from other partners, brain injury survivors, family members, support networks, and state and federal representatives.

This year, we will have sessions on aging, employment, the intersectionality of TBI and other medical and social issues, and peer support.

While we are still working on finalizing the agenda for the 2023 ACL TBI Partners Day, our plans are to include state and federal representatives as well as brain injury survivors and family members in the sessions. Session participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions during each session. There will be no cost to register for the event.

We will provide more details about the 2023 TBI Partners Day in the coming weeks. If you have any questions about this event, please do not hesitate to contact us via email. For now, please save the date!

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Register Today for the Pennsylvania Technology Innovation Luncheon
Thursday, January 12, 2023
11:00 am – 2:00 pm ET
777 E Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17111

Eleos Health invites all RCPA behavioral health provider members to participate in this informational, in-person session.

Let’s give frontline providers more: 

Eleos Health’s motto is more care, less ops. Our proprietary technology digitizes behavioral health conversations, tracks evidence-based care and reduces documentation work for providers by over 50%. We’re dedicated to giving providers the ability to focus more of their time on what they do best – caring for their clients.

During this luncheon, you’ll join a select group of Pennsylvania behavioral health leaders to discuss how innovative technology can help solve top workforce challenges and improve care.

Speakers will include Susan Blue, CEO & President of Community Services Group (CSG), Josh Cantwell, COO of GRAND Mental Health in Oklahoma, and Andrew Schmitt, LCSW, Director of Outpatient Services of Gaudenzia, Inc., who will share how they approach technology decisions and why they chose Eleos as a valued partner.

GRAND’s efforts to tech-enable their providers were recently featured by the Philadelphia Citizen in the article “Ideas We Should Steal: A Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Care.”

We’d love to have you join the conversation at this special event!

Attendees can expect to:

  • Discuss augmented intelligence technologies in behavioral health;
  • Identify new opportunities to address workforce challenges while also improving the client experience and care quality; and
  • Explore how Eleos Health CareOps Automation reduces admin work by 50%+.

Register here to participate.

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ODP Announcement 22-127 reports that, effective January 2023, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will increase the SSI allotment by 8.7 percent to reflect an increase in the cost of living. This raises the maximum monthly income to $914 for an eligible individual, $1,371 for an eligible individual with an eligible spouse, and $458 for an essential person. To account for the new Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), Room and Board contracts should be reviewed to determine appropriate adjustment. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has finalized a new Room and Board Residency Agreement § 6100.687 (DP 1077), which can be accessed here.

If a provider has already begun the process of adjusting the room and board payment for 2023 using the DP 1051, this form will continue to be accepted as current until the annual due date or until a change requires that a new form is completed. The provider must use the DP 1077 at the next annual due date or when there is a change

If you have any questions, please reach out to your ODP Regional Office.

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