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Policy Areas

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In recent years, the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) had received concerns regarding the Bureau of Children’s Behavioral Health Services (Children’s Bureau). Four major themes emerged from this feedback relating to communication, regulations and policy, operational consistency, and system partner engagement. Last spring, OMHSAS engaged Mercer Consulting to conduct a study of the Children’s Bureau that included three two-hour focus groups with OMHSAS system partners, including representatives from RCPA. The primary goal of the review was to identify ways in which OMHSAS can improve internal operations as well as communication and collaboration.

On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary Dennis Marion shared both an executive summary of the Mercer Independent Study as well as his description of the steps forward that OMHSAS has initiated in response to the concerns and findings. The action items outlined by Deputy Secretary Marion are:

  • Review and consolidation of regulations related to Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS). OMHSAS will engage with stakeholders to draft regulatory changes with the expectation that proposed BHRS regulations will be released for public comment in mid-2017.
  • Strategic reorganization of OMHSAS leadership. On March 7, Shannon Fagan joined OMHSAS as Children’s Bureau director, and Sherry Peters became director of the Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Program Development.
  • Organization-wide effort to improve consistency and quality. Moving forward, OMHSAS senior staff will focus on identifying areas of potential improvement, developing strategies to strengthen internal and external processes, promoting an organizational culture of collaboration, coordination, communication, and cohesiveness, and monitoring progress towards addressing the concerns voiced by OMHSAS stakeholders.
  • Emphasis on family and stakeholder engagement. The involvement of PACA, RCPA, BH-MCOs, and their contractors, played an integral role in working to identify issues of concern.
  • A redefining of “customer service.” To address concerns relating to responsiveness and professionalism, internal meetings have been held to stress the importance of holding OMHSAS staff to high standards of customer service.
  • Renewed focus on communications. In response to concerns regarding effectiveness of internal and external communications, Shanna Klucar was appointed as executive assistant to the deputy secretary on January 30.

OMHSAS invites RCPA members and other stakeholders to share comments and concerns regarding Children’s Behavioral Health Services to Shannon Fagan, bureau director, as well as the RCPA Children’s Division. In addition, members may contact OMHSAS leadership Sherry Peters and Shanna Klucar with more general comments and concerns.

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The Department of Human Services (DHS) Medical Assistance Online Provider Enrollment Application information is now electronic, online, and available to provider organizations. The improvements and modernization of the PROMISe system have been strongly encouraged by RCPA and a significant goal of DHS. Some of the benefits of online enrollment application submissions are:

  • Allowing documents that previously had to be mailed or faxed to be uploaded directly to the portal;
  • Permitting providers see the status of their submissions; and
  • Decreasing wait time to review applications.

The information you will need to submit an application for enrollment:

  • Access the online enrollment application
  • Review the training guide
  • Review the frequently asked questions document for important clarifications
  • A “Help” feature is available at any time during the completion of an application
  • Supplemental Services require the Behavioral Health Managed Care Organization to attest that a provider is credentialed

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ABLE Legislation
Senator Lisa Baker’s legislation to establish Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) tax savings accounts for individuals with disabilities in Pennsylvania (SB 879) passed the House Finance Committee on March 16 and will now move to the full House for a vote. The state’s Treasury Department will be responsible to establish these accounts.

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The Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (JCJC) and the Awards Committee of the PA Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers are pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2016 JCJC Awards Program. This year program categories for which your program may be eligible include:

  • Residential Program of the Year
  • Community Based Program of the Year
  • Meritorious Service Award

As in previous years, all nominations must be submitted by county juvenile probation departments. If you would like to have your program or volunteer nominated, please contact a chief juvenile probation officer to discuss the possibility of submitting a nomination. Formal nomination materials must be postmarked by Monday, May 2, 2016.

The JCJC will once again sponsor a Youth Awards Program as part of this year’s Annual Training and Awards Program, to honor the youth selected as winners. The Youth Awards Committee is accepting nominations for the Outstanding Achievement Contest and the Creative Expression Contest. The Creative Expression Contest category will include either a written, poster, or video entry in two age categories; 15 & under and 16 & over. Entry forms for this category will be available soon on the JCJC website. Please contact Keith A. Graybill at (717) 705-9006 or by email if you have any questions or need assistance.

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In late February, the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) announced an expansion (Phase III) of its Settlement Conference Facilitation pilot to include Medicare Part A claims, which includes claims under dispute from Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities. This announcement was part of an Appellant Forum hosted by OMHA. The agenda and slide presentation from the forum provide additional information.

OMHA is the entity that is responsible for administering the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) level of the Medicare appeals process. This expansion, which became effective on February 25, 2016, is an effort to help resolve the extensive backlog of ALJ hearing requests, which is approximately at 240,000 for FY 2015. The previous phases of expansion were limited to Part B claims and have been in effect since June of 2014. To date, only a small amount of claims have been removed from the queue.

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On March 14, 2016, the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee convened a forum on the state of the knowledge relating to the causes, effects, and treatments of concussions. The forum featured input from experts representing the medical, military, athletic, and research communities with a goal of building a collaborative body of knowledge to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of concussions. Included in the opening statement by Honorable Tim Murphy, Chairman of the Subcommittee: “Today, we begin a new chapter in the national dialogue on concussions. We are not here to re-litigate past actions, point fingers or cast blame. We are here to take a step back, to gain some perspective and to begin a conversation focused on solutions, not on problems.” And most importantly, “We are also here today to make one thing clear – this is not just a sports issue or a military issue. This is a public health issue…That is why we are here today – to ensure we are on the path, though it may be long, to providing the public the answers they deserve.”

The list of participants and webcast of the forum are available on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s website.

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