Insights

HMA Insights: Your source for healthcare news, ideas and analysis.

HMA Insights – including our new podcast – puts the vast depth of HMA’s expertise at your fingertips, helping you stay informed about the latest healthcare trends and topics. Below, you can easily search based on your topic of interest to find useful information from our podcast, blogs, webinars, case studies, reports and more.

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Brief & Report

Section 1115 Justice-Involved Reentry Demonstration Implementation Toolkit for Jail, Prison, and Juvenile Settings

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This toolkit provides a set of implementation checklists for Section 1115 Justice-Involved Reentry Demonstrations tailored to three carceral settings: jails, prisons, and juvenile facilities. Each checklist outlines operational tasks across core domains to support effective planning, coordination, and continuity of care pre- and post-release.

This toolkit is intended to provide information for jails, prisons, and youth detention centers in states contemplating submitting a 1115 Justice-Involved Reentry Demonstration, as well as states that have an approved demonstration. All states with approved demonstrations must provide core services, including care management for physical and behavioral health, medication assisted treatment for individuals when clinically indicated before release, and medication in hand at release. It is important to note that states may vary in their populations of focus, care management models, and processes for submitting claims. It is essential to cross-reference your state’s demonstration when planning to operationalize this initiative.

Case Study

A Revenue Cycle Management Success Story: Advanced Diabetes Supply/US Medical Supply

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The Client

Advanced Diabetes Supply (ADS) acquired US Medical Supply (USMed), a Florida-based durable medical equipment provider, in 2021. At the time, ADS and USMed generated $400 million and $250 million in revenue, respectively. Over the next three years, the combined organization experienced rapid growth, reaching over $1 billion in annual revenue.

Background

While the top-line growth was significant—59% over a three-year span—cash collections failed to keep pace. This created a classic case of an organization outgrowing its infrastructure. The foundational tools, technology, and operational structure simply weren’t in place to support the accelerated growth, particularly on the revenue cycle side.

Compounding these challenges were issues stemming from the integration of the two companies, including billing inconsistencies and reimbursement delays. USMed, like many in the industry, was severely impacted by the Change Healthcare ransomware attack, disrupting billing and collections operations nationwide. At the time this project began, USMed was facing a $40 million backlog in accounts receivable and struggling to meet payroll. The revenue cycle team was understaffed and overwhelmed.

HMA had previously performed a successful revenue cycle gap assessment at an ADS office in California. Based on those results, the newly hired CFO of ADS/USMed asked HMA to replicate the process for the Florida office. The goal: support the recently appointed VP of Revenue Cycle in stabilizing operations, implementing recommendations, and aligning practices to industry best standards.

Download and read the approach and results.

Blog

President Issues Executive Order Calling for Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing

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On May 12, 2025, the President signed an Executive Order (EO), Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients.” The EO calls for or, in some cases, presumes a range of manufacturer, administrative and regulatory actions to reduce drug prices, but ultimate outcome remains unclear.

HMA experts, including Leavitt Partners, an HMA company, are closely following executive agency and stakeholder responses to the EO. In this article, our experts summarize the EO and identify key considerations for healthcare stakeholders.

Policy Overview

Since his first administration, President Trump has consistently criticized disparities in brand-name prescription drug prices between the United States and other developed countries. In 2018, the previous Trump Administration issued a preliminary proposal to institute an International Pricing Index (IPI) model targeting Medicare payments for a subset of clinician-administered drugs. The IPI model would have set a Medicare payment amount for select Part B drugs at a lower amount to align with international prices and allow for negotiation of prices, while still providing a drug add-on payment to providers consistent with historical drug costs.  In November 2020, the administration issued an interim final rule (IFR) instituting an escalated version of this concept, entitled the Most Favored Nation (MFN) Model. Both the IPI proposal and the MFN final rule, the latter of which was enjoined by the courts on largely procedural grounds and later rescinded by the Biden administration, would have been implemented under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) demonstration authority.

On May 12, 2025, the President signed an EO, Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients, which reaffirms the Administration’s concerns regarding what it perceives to be American funding of pharmaceutical research and development “while foreign health systems get a free ride.” In an effort to address the Administration’s concerns, the EO notes that the Administration “will take immediate steps to end global freeloading” and that “should drug manufacturers fail to offer American consumers the most-favored-nation lowest price, my Administration will take additional aggressive action.”

The EO outlines efforts to implement this policy, including:

  • Trade Efforts. The US Department of Commerce and United States Trade Representative (USTR) are directed to ensure that foreign countries are not engaged in actions with the effect of forcing Americans to “pay for a disproportionate amount” of R&D costs.
  • Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Sales at MFN Price. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to facilitate DTC sales programs for manufacturers to offer MFN prices.
  • MFN Targets. The HHS Secretary is directed to provide MFN targets to manufacturers within 30 days with the expectation that manufacturers will “bring prices for American patients in line with comparably developed nations.”
  • If “significant progress” toward MFN pricing is not made, HHS will be directed to propose a rulemaking plan to impose it.
  • The order suggests that the HHS Secretary certify, on a case-by-case basis, that reimportation will pose no additional risk to public health and will result in savings, as well as to create standard mechanisms for importation. It is unclear how this direction aligns with the current statutory framework, which is focused on Canada.
  • Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice Action. The EO calls for efforts “consistent with law” to undertake enforcement action against anticompetitive practices identified in the prior drug pricing EO, including use of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Key Considerations

At this stage, the scope and practical effects of the EO remain uncertain, as the administration has not yet provided details regarding the regulatory and subregulatory actions envisioned under the document. With respect to trade policy, for instance, the EO does not outline explicitly what particular tools it expects USTR or the Commerce Department to leverage in combating “foreign freeloading.”

Similarly, the EO does not elaborate on the steps that the administration plans to take in “facilitat[ing]” voluntary MFN target pricing under DTC purchasing arrangements. Such efforts could theoretically bring waivers or other regulatory flexibilities to bear, or else they could take a more hands-off approach, simply encouraging drugmakers to take action on their own.

Without further clarifications around how the administration might define or assess “significant progress” towards MFN pricing targets on the part of manufacturers, nor the form, manner, or timeline that “aggressive action” in the absence of such progress might take, the EO serves principally as an illustration of the President’s posture, perspective, and priorities with respect to prescription drug affordability and access.

Even in the absence of immediate pricing or payment interventions, the EO could provide a preview of future executive actions aligned with the document’s focus. Such actions could include CMMI models building on the IPI or MFN initiatives from the first term, explicit trade negotiation priorities, regulatory measures related to DTC purchasing arrangements, FDA reimportation program flexibilities, or any number of other drug-related policies.

Our experts will continue to monitor these activities as they progress.

Connect With Us

For details regarding the EO and potential impact on the healthcare sector, contact our featured experts below at medicare@healthmanagement.com

Blog

House Committees Consider Policies to Meet Budget Reconciliation Instructions

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This week, key committees in the House of Representatives released recommendations for legislative language that meets their federal savings and spending targets required in the fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget resolution. On May 11, 2025, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released legislation—and subsequently a substitute amendment—that contains several substantive Medicaid proposals designed to address eligibility and enrollment; financing; fraud waste, and abuse; and to institute mandatory work and community engagement requirements and cost sharing. The Committee completed its markup on May 14, 2025, voting to approve the provisions in the substitute amendment.

The release of text and committee markups are key steps in Congress’s budget reconciliation process; however, proposals may change during Senate proceedings.

Health Management Associates (HMA), and Leavitt Partners, an HMA company, are tracking these developments and analyzing the extensive health and health-related legislative text, including the Medicaid, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace proposals. Below, we review the status of congressional efforts and key policies.

Background

The budget reconciliation process is a powerful tool for enacting significant fiscal policy changes, as it allows for expedited consideration and passage of budget-related legislation. It has been used in the past to enact major tax reforms, healthcare legislation, and other important budgetary measures.

In 2025, Congress has been actively working to develop its budget bills through a series of steps. The House adopted a budget resolution on February 25, 2025, which sets the framework for federal spending, revenue, and the debt limit for fiscal year 2025 and outlines budgetary levels for the following years through 2034. The Senate passed an amended version of the budget resolution on April 5, 2025. The Senate’s amendments included reconciliation instructions that require $4 billion in gross deficit reductions and allow a $5.8 trillion net deficit increase. On April 10, 2025, the House agreed to the Senate’s amendments with a vote of 216−214. This agreement set the stage for the development of a reconciliation bill.

House Energy and Commerce Markup

On May 14, 2025, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce completed its second day of marking up legislative language to comply with the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025, voting to advance the proposals out of committee. The committee’s proposal excluded certain significant structural reforms that had generated concern among some members and stakeholders, such as broad reductions in the federal matching rate (enhanced federal matching assistance percentage (FMAP)) for Medicaid expansion populations, per-capita caps on federal Medicaid cost growth, or reductions in the safe harbor threshold for state Medicaid provider taxes. The proposal does, however, contain more than a dozen provisions that would reduce federal health care spending by $715 billion with the funding reductions mostly focused on Medicaid, which the Congressional Budget Office projects will reduce the federal share of Medicaid spending, including:

  • Adding mandatory work and community engagement requirements for individuals ages 19−64 without dependents, subject to exceptions for pregnant women, people who are medically frail, people with disabilities, people in compliance with other government program work requirements, people living in areas experiencing a temporary hardship, and other individuals
  • Adding cost sharing for beneficiaries in the expansion population who earn more than 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, not to exceed $35 per item or service
  • Pausing implementation of several final rules published during the Biden Administration, including: the final rule published September 21, 2023, “Streamlining Medicaid; Medicare Savings Program Eligibility Determination and Enrollment”; the April 2, 2024 rule, “Streamlining the Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Basic Health Program Application, Eligibility Determination, Enrollment, and Renewal Processes”; and the May 10, 2024, final rule, “Minimum Staffing Standards for Long Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting”
  • Adding provider screening requirements
  • Increasing frequency of eligibility redeterminations for certain individuals and adding enrollee address verification policies
  • Reducing expansion FMAP for certain states that provide Medicaid coverage to undocumented individuals and families, regardless of the source of funding
  • Preventing certain spread pricing arrangements in Medicaid between states and pharmacy benefit managers
  • Restricting funding for certain essential community providers that furnish family planning services, reproductive health, and related healthcare services
  • Ending a temporary increased FMAP to new states adopting Medicaid expansion, revising policies governing the use of Medicaid provider taxes, and payment limits for state directed payments

Committee Markups

Various other House committees have begun holding markups for the reconciliation package. The Committee on Ways and Means conducted its markup on May 13, 2025, to discuss its portion of the reconciliation bill, which involves $4.5 trillion in deficit increases. The initial Ways and Means proposal did not include many significant healthcare proposals, but on May 12, 2025, the committee released a substitute amendment that includes several changes that would affect private insurance coverage and Medicare. Key provisions include:

  • Changes to Medicare and ACA premium tax credit (PTC) eligibility requirements related to immigration status
  • Improvements to ACA PTC eligibility verification checks
  • Changes to Health Savings Account flexibilities
  • Codification and renaming of individual coverage health reimbursement accounts, which serve as a defined contribution that employees can use to purchase insurance in the individual market

Other committees, such as the Education and Workforce, Judiciary, Armed Services, and Homeland Security Committees, also have conducted markups and approved their respective portions of the reconciliation bill.

Connect With Us

These steps are part of the ongoing process to finalize the budget and reconciliation legislation for FY 2025. Our federal policy experts with Leavitt Partners and across HMA are monitoring the legislative policies and ongoing negotiations in Congress and with the administration. They work with healthcare organizations and industry to plan for the range of scenarios and policies Congress is debating.

For more information about the impact of these policies, contact our featured federal policy experts below.

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Ask HMA Experts: Behavioral Health Town Hall

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This webinar was held on May 29, 2025.

In this dynamic and interactive Behavioral Health Town Hall hosted by Health Management Associates (HMA), our experts will be available to answer your questions live on a wide range of critical topics, including:

  • Federal policy, personnel, and funding changes;
  • Emerging strategies for addressing social determinants of health, substance use disorder and crisis coordination (including 988);
  • Behavioral health revenue cycle management and alternative payment models; and
  • Innovations in addressing workforce shortages, integrated service delivery, digital mental health tools, and best practices for community mental health service delivery.

Blog

Health Policy in Maryland Amid Fiscal Uncertainty

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The 2025 Maryland General Assembly session closed on April 7th. While the budget deficit consumed a large portion of legislative bandwidth, there was significant action on health-related programs, including supporting the implementation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) Model, expanding access to care, paving a way for Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) expansion and increasing access to affordable insurance. The AHEAD Model is an innovation in healthcare finance that drives improvements in population health through increased investments in activities likely to improve health outcomes, and benefits hospitals that participate by providing stable funding through hospital global budgets.

Budget Deficits and Federal Funding Fears Limited New Spending

After intense debate and discussion, House and Senate fiscal leaders reached a budget agreement on the final day of session. From the beginning, significant projected general fund shortfalls existed in the current and future fiscal years. Primarily these shortfalls were due to higher than anticipated Medicaid enrollment and growth in obligations to fund K-12 education under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Through a combination of actions including budget cuts, increasing hospital assessments to cover Medicaid costs, shifting costs to counties, and new taxes and fees, the budget passed along party lines. Due to concerns about the potential harm from federal budget cuts, particularly in the Medicaid program, the final plan includes a trigger provision requiring the Governor to engage lawmakers on solutions should federal funding to the state fall by $1 billion.  

The State Readies for the AHEAD model

Despite fiscal concerns, the General Assembly established two new funds, the Population Health Improvement Fund, and the Maryland Primary Care Program Fund, to support the implementation of the AHEAD model. Revenues to both funds are collected through an increase in hospital assessments.

  • The Population Health Improvement Fund will support efforts to reach statewide population health targets under the AHEAD model.
  • The Maryland Primary Care Program Fund will support the implementation of a Medicaid advanced primary care model and support primary care providers through investments in reimbursements for evaluation and management codes, care management fees to eligible practices, and quality incentives.

Supporting Access to Care

Lawmakers passed several bills aimed at increasing or protecting access to care.

  • The Preserve Telehealth Access Act of 2025 makes permanent provisions of law requiring reimbursement parity between telehealth and in-person services and includes “audio-only” services as telehealth under certain circumstances.
  • Legislation passed to address children and youth boarding in hospital settings beyond medical necessity. The bills define a “pediatric overstay” and requires the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Department of Human Services to establish a pediatric overstay coordinator in each department to ensure that each patient is served in the least restrictive environment.

Several pieces of legislation passed to address behavioral health and substance use disorders including:

  • Eliminating the prohibition on using 9-1-1 trust fund dollars to support the 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline, improving coordination between 9-1-1 and 9-8-8.
  • Establishing a buprenorphine training grant program to support training paramedics to administer the drug.
  • Further delineating uses of opioid restitution fund dollars and creating additional reporting requirements for the Office of Overdose Response.

Since the Dobbs decision, rolling back protections for abortion care in states, Maryland has been on the forefront of protecting reproductive freedom. Legislation passed establishing the Public Health Abortion Grant Program and Fund to support eligible organizations providing equitable access to abortion care services.

Regulating Prescription Drug Prices

Maryland established the Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB) in 2019 joining ten other states in regulating the cost of prescription drugs through affordability boards. The goal of PDABs is to address high prescription costs by setting upper payment limits (UPLs) for drugs that cause or are likely to cause affordability challenges. Currently, Maryland’s PDAB is authorized to set UPLs for prescription drug products purchased by or on behalf of a unit of state or local government.  Legislation passed creating a pathway for the PDAB to set UPLs on prescription drug products paid for by additional state regulated payors if the board determines that the product has led or will lead to an affordability challenge.

Access to Affordable Health Insurance

The General Assembly made permanent the State-Based Young Adult Health Insurance Subsidy program and requires the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange in consultation with the Maryland Insurance Commissioner to establish and implement a state-based health insurance subsidy program for all individuals. The Maryland Health Insurance Protection Commission was reestablished to monitor federal changes that could impact coverage.

Change in Leadership at the Maryland Department of Health

During the busy legislative session, Secretary Laura Herrera Scott, MD, announced she was stepping down from her position as leader of the Maryland Department of Health. Former CMS administrator, Meena Seshamani, MD, was announced as Dr. Scott’s successor and sworn in on April 9th. Secretary Seshamani will be tasked with leading the transition from Maryland’s Total Cost of Care model to the AHEAD model and leading the department through a period of uncertainty and expected budget shortfalls.

Maryland State of Reform Conference to Cover Many of these Issues

These issues and more will be covered at the Maryland State of Reform Health Policy Conference on June 12th at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. The day will include a panel of legislative leaders as well as sessions focused on the AHEAD Model, value-based care, behavioral health, public health, and prescription drug costs.

Blog

Governor Asa Hutchinson Announced as Keynote Speaker at HMA 2025 Conference

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We’re excited to welcome former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as the keynote speaker at the 2025 HMA Conference October 14-16 in New Orleans, LA.  Governor Hutchinson brings over 40 years of leadership in law, national security, and public service. As the 46th Governor of Arkansas (2015–2023), he championed innovation in maternal healthcare, initiating programs and policies focused on improving maternal health outcomes during his time in office. He established the Maternal Life360Home program, expanding access to home visitations and intensive care coordination services for women with high-risk pregnancies and for children after birth, and improving the safety and wellbeing of children in foster care. He launched the Healthy Active Arkansas program, a 10-year plan to encourage schools and businesses to promote healthier eating and more activity.

His prior federal roles include Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Administrator, the first Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the Department for Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Congressman, and the nation’s youngest U.S. Attorney. We’re excited to welcome his perspective on advancing health outcomes across America.

In keeping with changes being made at the federal level affecting all aspects of the healthcare system, Governor Hutchinson will be discussing “The Policy and Politics of Making America Healthy.” In his address, he will share insights from his tenure in Arkansas, his perspective on effective health policy development, and the challenges to implementation at both state and federal levels. Join us for what promises to be an enlightening session as he explores the evolving relationship between federal and state governments and the opportunities for innovative health policy development that gives states more flexibility.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of our nation’s respected political leaders on issues that directly impact our industry and the health of Americans.

Date: October 14-16, 2025

Time: 8:30 a.m.

Location: Four Seasons New Orleans

Following the Governor’s talk, you will join with industry leaders to discuss new directions in payment and financing of publicly funded healthcare programs, community-level strategies designed to meet the needs of special populations, tailwinds driving the expanding universe of digital health policies, and innovations to strengthen access to behavioral health services. Come for the informative plenary sessions and workshops, explore strategies for navigating changes in funding, access, and coverage to ensure success in a shifting environment, and expand your network with federal and state policymakers, healthcare providers, insurers, philanthropists, and C-suite industry leaders. 

Brief & Report

What’s Really Causing the Rise in Insurance Premiums, and What Can States Do About It?

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Healthcare cost increases are outpacing general inflation, which jeopardizes access to coverage and care, as well as investments in other priorities. As a result, states are looking for ways to reduce the cost burden for consumers, employers, and taxpayers. The State of Maine engaged Wakely Consulting Group, an HMA Company, to analyze historical medical trends and the associated impact on premiums in Maine’s health insurance market for the period of 2021 to 2025. The goal was to assess what factors are driving rising insurance costs. This project was supported by an HMA contract with Arnold Ventures, under which we provide technical assistance to states seeking to reduce healthcare cost growth.

Blog

Empowering Healthcare Leaders: Forging Insights and Collaborations at the National Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA Marketplace Event

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As new federal priorities unfold—particularly for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace—healthcare stakeholders must anticipate and adapt to dramatic changes in funding, regulatory requirements, and technological advancements. 

In light of these shifting tides, you won’t want to miss Health Management Associates (HMA), 8th National Conference, Medicare, Medicaid, And Marketplace: Adapting for Success in a Changing Healthcare Landscape, October 14-16, 2025, in New Orleans, LA. The HMA event will feature timely topics with insightful speakers who are at the center of decision making in government, healthcare service delivery, philanthropy, and industry. 

The conference will inspire thought-provoking conversations that will prepare you to navigate the rapidly changing healthcare landscape. The sessions will provide context for big ideas and workshops that will delve deeper into policy, strategy, and operations. Examples include:  

  • The Policy and Politics of Making America Healthy 
  • When the Ground Shifts: Publicly Financed Health Coverage and Policy in Motion  
  • Where Is Disruption Poised to Make Improvements in Healthcare? 
  • Red, Blue, or Purple: Building Resilient Healthcare Systems to Improve Population Health  

The HMA conference welcomes all healthcare stakeholders. Each year we bring together federal and state policymakers, healthcare providers, insurers, philanthropists, and C-suite industry leaders to explore and discuss cross-cutting healthcare policy and operational issues.  

Networking Opportunities 

In addition to insightful sessions, the conference will offer numerous networking opportunities and exhibitor space. Attendees will have the chance to connect with peers, industry leaders, and policymakers during dedicated networking breaks, receptions, and informal gatherings in the vibrant city of New Orleans. These interactions will provide valuable opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges, and explore potential collaborations. 

Learn more about the agenda, registration, and sponsorship on the conference site, Adapting for Success in a Changing Healthcare Landscape. For sponsorship information contact Andrea Maresca, HMAIS Managing Director.   

HMA Weekly Roundup

May 7, 2025

Empowering Healthcare Leaders: Forging Insights and Collaborations at the National Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA Marketplace Event

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Blog

The Evolving Behavioral Health Delivery System

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During the month of May, HMA is featuring thought leadership and insights around Behavioral Health (BH) and changes within the BH delivery system in the U.S. Along with several presentations happening at NatCon25 in Philadelphia, May 5-7, we want to highlight some of the work done by HMA experts.  Starting us off, Josh Rubin, HMA Vice President, Client Solutions, has spent his career working with BH, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and child welfare service providers. In this post, he discusses the changing BH delivery system, and the issues surrounding the treatment of co-occurring mental health conditions.     

Ever since the 19th century when Dorothea Dix crusaded up and down the east coast encouraging state legislatures to fund state psychiatric hospitals, we have had separate systems for medical and mental health care. I mean Ms. Dix no disrespect, far from it; before her work we simply had no system of care for people with mental illnesses. Her contribution was immeasurable. But in 1963 when President Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act, it was an acknowledgement that the “out of sight, out of mind” warehousing of people with mental illnesses in large state psychiatric hospitals was inappropriate and had to end.

Those of us who remember the heady days of the 1960s rightly celebrate the advance this represented in acknowledging the rights of people with mental illness to live in the community, and the opportunity it created for people with behavioral health conditions to build lives of dignity, productivity, and inclusion. And while we ought to celebrate that important advancement, we must nonetheless acknowledge that it maintained a separation between the underfunded mental health system, and a significantly better funded medical system. And thus, the community mental health system in America was built. It was designed to provide mental health care to the roughly 5% of the population that has a serious mental illness (SMI). In the nearly 60 years since, much has been done of which community mental health providers should be proud. We have transformed countless millions of people’s lives (and those of their families), built new program models, identified and implemented new practices, and built a service delivery system that offers a comprehensive continuum of care for people with SMI.

Unfortunately, that system was not built to address the needs of people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (SUD), which is problematic because nearly half of people with a substance use disorder have a mental illness and nearly half of people with a serious mental illness have a substance use disorder. This is no surprise; the conditions are related. Some people with mental illnesses use drugs to manage their symptoms. Sometimes drug use can cause or exacerbate mental illnesses. In most cases, it is impossible to figure out where a mental illness ends, and a substance use disorder begins, or vice versa.

Yet in the U.S. we have always had separate service systems for these two conditions. Our systems grew up this way because although the stigma of mental illness is bad, the stigma of substance use is worse. While we have frequently been willing to address mental illnesses as health problems, we have long treated substance use disorders as criminal justice problems. We created community mental health centers. We launched a war on drugs.

The federal government provides two separate funding streams for states, one for mental health, the other for substance use disorder services. In many states there are separate agencies overseeing the two conditions, separate funding streams, and separate regulatory structures. Many providers respond to the funding and offer separate programs for one condition or the other.

This systemic failure leads every day to the death of Americans who have co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders but cannot access treatment for the two conditions together. Treatment works, and recovery is possible, but treatment works best when you are able to get treatment for your entire problem.

And just as the mental health and SUD systems were separated, they were both also segregated from the general healthcare delivery system. The stigma of our clients’ illnesses attached to us and our service system, so we were largely ignored by the healthcare delivery system and the people who funded and oversaw it.

While we have, as I said, much to be proud of, we cannot ignore the impact of our segregation. Our clients continue to die much younger than their peers. BH-related hospitalizations continue to increase. Overdose deaths and completed suicides, the worst possible outcomes, keep climbing, leaving incalculable suffering in their wake. And the financial costs of BH conditions continue to escalate, falling hardest on the historically underserved and marginalized communities that can least afford them. When America establishes a separate system, it isn’t equal; being ignored has consequences.

The good news? BH is not being ignored any longer. The bad news? BH is not being ignored any longer.

Healthcare policymakers have finally awakened to the reality that they will not be able to achieve their goals of better outcomes, lower costs, and improved customer service unless they address the BH needs of their populations. They are figuring out that everyone needs behavioral healthcare, and that a dichotomy that focuses BH care only on those with the most significant BH issues is ill serving. They are coming to understand that the skills, capabilities, and expertise of community BH providers have extraordinary value. It’s nice to be acknowledged and invited to help.

But it’s not all good news, because while being ignored left us underfunded and disrespected, it also protected us. Now that hospitals (which have been buying up outpatient practices at a remarkable pace) have started opening up BH services, we must compete with their deep pockets. And private equity (with even deeper pockets) has increased the pace at which they are acquiring BH providers, forcing additional competition on us. We are not even safe from our own phones. 10,000 mental health apps in the app store offer our clients a totally different paradigm for care, much of it lacking any evidence-based foundation. This makes it more dangerous for our clients, not less competitive for BH providers.

This environment requires fundamental changes in the way BH providers operate. We need new models of care that better meet the needs of the people we serve. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) are a step in the right direction, but they’re not a significant change in the service delivery model. If you look at the history of the BH system in America, from Dorothea Dix through today, you will see that the movement has been consistently in the same direction – inward. We have moved out of the hospitals in the countryside into clinics in the neighborhood. We have slowly chiseled away at the barriers dividing mental health from substance use disorder services. We have patiently worked to integrate with our health care colleagues. Now things are accelerating, and the pace of change is scary, but we should embrace the opportunity. We have a once in a lifetime chance to build something new, better, more effective.

Ready to talk?