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Policy Areas

With state and federal laws governing the use and disclosure of confidential substance use disorder (SUD) information having undergone significant changes, including the recently announced final rule modifying 42 CFR Part 2, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) issued Licensing Alert 04-2024 to clarify the identification of recipients of confidential SUD information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations for compliance with 28 Pa. Code § 709.28(c)(1).

Consent forms must now include names of recipients, with a single form applicable for future disclosures, using a generalized recipient description. Treatment providers are urged to ensure their consent forms comply with these regulations and updated policies. For additional questions treatment providers can contact the Bureau of Program Licensure.

All sessions are scheduled from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.

  • Tannersville, PA, Northampton Community College: June 5, 2024
  • Butler, PA, Monarch Institute: June 12, 2024
  • Malvern, PA, PaTTAN East: June 18, 2024
  • Bellefonte, PA, Central Penn Institute of Science and Technology: June 26, 2024

In this second annual ODP Employment Regional Symposium, participants will hear from employers about how, what, and why they hired individuals with developmental disabilities. Individuals who are employed and their teams will describe how having a job made a difference in their lives and the lives of their families. Representatives from the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP), Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR), and the Bureau of Special Education will discuss collaboration across systems and offices with a focus on things that you thought might not be possible.

Who should attend?

Anyone interested in advancing the employment of individuals with developmental disabilities including but not limited to: current and future employers, self-advocates, local education authorities, intermediate units, ODP employment/community participation support/residential providers, supports coordinators, administrative entities transition counselors, regional employment coalitions, and OVR business liaisons.

Boxed lunches will be provided. Morning beverages and snacks are on your own.

Registration information will be sent in a separate ODP Announcement.

As noted in a previous alert from the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also been providing updates regarding the recent cybersecurity incident that impacted Change Healthcare (a unit of UnitedHealth Group). HHS has noted that their first priority is to help coordinate efforts to avoid disruptions to care throughout the health care system.

On March 5, 2024, HHS announced immediate steps that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking to assist providers to continue to serve patients. CMS will continue to communicate with the health care community and assist, as appropriate. Providers should continue to work with all their payers for the latest updates on how to receive timely payments.

Governor Shapiro has proposed a significant increase of funding to the ID/A system, and the legislature will begin deliberating the Governor’s plan. Now is the time to ask to secure this funding and maintain it in the next fiscal year’s budget.

RCPA has partnered with The Arc of PA, TPA, PAR, The Alliance, and MAX to develop a document for our members to share with legislators and other stakeholders that summarizes our message regarding support for the Governor’s budget. This document is now available to use. Additionally, RCPA has made available our legislative priorities one-pager that covers all divisions. We ask that you use both the ID/A document and the one-pager during your legislative visits, including those scheduled during our Capitol Day event on March 19.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Carol Ferenz.

Advocate for yourselves and others by meeting with legislators directly! Take the opportunity to join RCPA as we hold our annual Capitol Day this year on Tuesday, March 19. We will hold a press conference in the Main Rotunda between 10:30 am – 11:30 am, which will tentatively include speakers such as:

  • Representative Dan Miller;
  • Representative Stephen Kinsey;
  • Representative Doyle Heffley;
  • Senator Art Haywood; and
  • Senator Frank Farry.

You can register for our Capitol Day press conference by contacting Allison Brognia or Christine Tartaglione with the number of anticipated attendees. RCPA requests that members schedule appointments with their Senate and House legislators directly to discuss the state budget, legislation, and regulations after our press conference.

We ask that you please use RCPA’s legislative priorities one-pager during your legislative visits. As an additional resource, members can visit the Pennsylvania Capitol website to locate parking and view maps of the building. If you have questions regarding our 2024 Capitol Day, please contact Jack Phillips.