About one in six adults in California currently experience mental health challenges, while at the same time, rates of depression in adolescents have also increased. Health industry leaders banned together at the 2023 Northern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference to discuss the increasing need for behavioral healthcare, and the work their organizations are … Read more
The Colorado Legislature adjourned its 74th General Assembly on Monday in what lawmakers are describing as a progressive session for healthcare reform. The legislature approved appropriations of $15.5 billion ($4.5 billion from general fund) to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), $2.3 billion ($1 billion from general fund) to the … Read more
Opioid Settlement Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Board members continued to consider the best ways to spend Oregon’s portion of national opioid settlement funds by focusing on prevention efforts on Wednesday. The state legislature established the board in March 2022 through House Bill 4098 to determine how to allocate the state’s portion of funds that will … Read more
Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration has outlined a transformative plan for reforming the state’s behavioral healthcare infrastructure. In this “What They’re Watching” interview, we hear from Summer Gathercole, the deputy commissioner of operations at the BHA, about some of the administration’s overarching goals and the conversations that went into the design of the BHA’s work. Gathercole … Read more
For Tom Sebastian, president and CEO of Compass Health, the number one issue facing Washington healthcare is the behavioral health workforce shortage. He noted that three-quarters of Washington’s providers are placing some form of limitations on care due to these shortages. During a recent “What They’re Watching” interview, he discussed what his organization is doing … Read more
CalAIM, California’s multi-year initiative to transform Medi-Cal, has already met numerous key milestones regarding program implementation, which early data shows to have improved stabilization among enrollees. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) feels prepared to implement more going into the summer. The purpose of CalAIM is to transform Medi-Cal into a more coordinated, person-centered, … Read more
On March 20th, the California Nurses Association joined Asm. Matt Haney (D – San Francisco) outside of St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco to welcome the introduction of Assembly Bill 1001. The bill would create standards and procedures for hospitals to ensure staffing levels are available to immediately respond to behavioral health emergencies in … Read more
On Tuesday, the Youth Advisory Board of California Children’s Trust wrote a letter to legislators in proud support of Assembly Bill 665, which addresses barriers that youth on Medi-Cal face when seeking mental health services. About half of all Californian youth are on Medi-Cal, with the majority being youth of color. AB 665 will first … Read more
In March 2022, Gov. JB Pritzker launched the Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative (Transformation Initiative) to evaluate and redesign Illinois’s behavioral health services for children and adolescents. Last month, the Transformation Initiative issued a report detailing its findings and recommendations. The report is intended to support the state’s 2.8 million children through various … Read more
On March 8th, Gov. JB Pritzker, state officials, and local partners announced the launch of a new Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center. The center is designed to help increase Illinois’s capacity to recruit, educate, and retain behavioral health professionals. “We are laying out a plan to build the best behavioral health system in … Read more