On June 18, ASAM joined 27 other organizations, including the National Council for Behavioral Health, in sending a letter to Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan of Health and Human Services. In the letter, the organizations request additional funding from the Health Care Provider Fund, authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The letter urges HHS to allow behavioral health providers to submit complete financial information to receive at least 2% of their 2018 net patient revenue and also requests that HHS establish dialogue with stakeholders to determine if additional federal financial support for the behavioral health community is possible.

The letter emphasizes that without additional funding, Medicaid behavioral health providers will suffer financial crisis resulting from COVID-19. Furthermore, the public health emergency has triggered a significant increase in behavioral health challenges, which includes increases in cases of clinical depression, drug overdoses, and suicide rates. Therefore, it is critical that HHS support behavioral health providers by allocating additional funding to ensure that providers will be able to meet the emerging behavioral health needs of the country.

Read the letter here.