Governor Carney Signs Package of Legislation to Combat Addiction Epidemic

Legislation Includes Creating the Nation’s first Overdose System of Care

NEW CASTLE, Del. – On Monday, Governor Carney joined Lt. Governor Hall-Long, members of the Behavioral Health Consortium, first responders, and advocates to sign three bills into law aimed at fighting the addiction epidemic and saving lives in Delaware. All three bills, HS #1 for House Bill 440,Senate Bill 206 and Senate Bill 225, are first year priorities of the Behavioral Health Consortium‘sThree Year Action Plan.

“Today, Delaware became the first state in the nation to enact an Overdose System of Care to improve our state’s care and treatment for Delawareans and families affected by the opioid crisis,” said Governor Carney. “We strengthened our Prescription Monitoring Program and we encouraged prescribers and patients to consider using non-opioid methods when treating back pain. These steps will help build on our system of support for those families and individuals dealing with the opioid crisis personally or professionally. Thank you to the members of the General Assembly, advocates and law enforcement for their tireless work on this epidemic affecting far too many Delaware families.”

The package of legislation addresses critical gaps identified by Delaware’s Behavioral Health Consortium which will tackle a range of issues including the creation of the nation’s first Overdose System of Care model to better transition individuals after an overdose or crisis from an emergency room setting to more comprehensive treatment for their addiction. Additional legislation also creates better access and education to alternative therapies to opioids and improved data sharing of health information between agencies to better assess and analyze prescribing patterns.

All three bills are year one priorities of the Behavioral Health Consortium, chaired by Lt. Governor Hall-Long.

“The addiction crisis ignores income, race, and geography,” said Lt. Governor Hall-Long.Delawareans deserve a treatment system that works for them when they need it most. With today’s bill signing, Delaware is another step closer to creating a more comprehensive, integrated, and timely treatment system from initial contact with first responders through the entire continuum of care.”

The legislative package received widespread support from many in Delaware’s General Assembly, most of whom see the devastating impacts of addiction in their communities.

“In Delaware, we are blessed to have a small, tight-knit community that can respond quickly to challenges as daunting as the current opioid epidemic,” said Sen. Bryan Townsend. “The bills that we have signed today are the result of that spirit of partnership and cooperation. They are a positive sign for the future of addiction and chronic pain treatment in our state. Our constituents deserve this kind of responsive government and I am as proud to be a part of today’s signing ceremony as I will be to keep the ball rolling next year.”

SB 225 encourages prescribers and patients to consider the use of proven alternative therapies instead of opioids and requires continuing education to prescribers about the risks of opioids and benefits of alternative treatments.

“Few Delawareans have made it through the last few years without being affected by the opioid crisis in some way,” said Sen. Stephanie Hansen. As elected officials, we are duty-bound to respond with every ounce of energy, creativity, and dedication we have to find solutions and make much-needed changes to our system of care, treatment methods, and prescription practices. As we continue to spend long hours poring through the data, news articles, and legislative documents trying to come up with new solutions, I am encouraged to see these bills passed today. They represent the combined efforts of an incredible team of people from all corners of this state and it has been a privilege to do my part in the Senate to get these bills drafted and passed. With the governor’s signature now affixed to these new laws, I am looking forward to carrying the momentum into the 150th General Assembly.”

“Combatting the addiction epidemic takes a collaborative approach, with many stakeholders coming to the table. The legislation we are signing into law today helps to establish wrap-around systems of care for overdose patients, better identify prescribing patterns and support alternative treatments to opioids,” said Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington South. “I was proud to be the prime sponsor of SB 225, and raise awareness about alternative pain care such as physical therapy and chiropractic care. Delawareans who struggle with back pain deserve all options at their disposal. I hope we can build on this legislation and continue the push for access for alternative pain treatments.”

Last year, nearly 2,000 individuals in Delaware suffered a non-fatal overdose, yet many continued to be prescribed opioids or did not receive treatment for substance use disorder. This prompted the need for SB 206, to better coordinate data sharing between state agencies and the Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program to study overdose data and create recommendations around safer prescribing and best practices.

“It seems like every day we hear about another overdose, another tragic death or another family struggling to beat addiction. Addiction doesn’t discriminate, and our policies should address the wide-ranging impacts of the disease,” said Rep. David Bentz, D-Christiana. “It has been an honor to work with the Behavioral Health Consortium and Lt. Governor Hall Long to address this systematic issue. The bills signed into law today by Governor Carney help continue to move Delaware forward and help the many families that struggle with addiction.”

Dr. Sandy Gibney, an emergency department physician at St. Francis Hospital was a leading advocate for legislation forming the nation’s first Overdose System of Care.

“The importance and impact this legislation cannot be understated, said Dr. Sandy Gibney, St Francis Hospital. “Utilizing the ‘system of care’ approach for substance use disorder and overdose care will ensure that an effective and collaborative statewide treatment and intervention plan will be put in place. The Systems of Care that are already established in Delaware for trauma, pediatric emergencies, and stroke have paved the way for an Overdose System of Care. All have demonstrated to be a highly effective and collaborative method for statewide patient care and treatment.”

Delaware’s first responders are often on the front lines of the addiction epidemic.

“Emergency medical services providers, such as emergency medical technicians and paramedics, are a vital component of the community health care system, said Larry Tan, Chief of Emergency Medical Services Division. “Our experience has demonstrated that leveraging their capabilities in defined ‘systems of care’ can have a significantly positive impact on survival and the quality of life in our communities.”

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Governor Carney Signs Order Creating the Governor’s State Complete Count Commission

Commission will help ensure a fair and accurate 2020 Census count in Delaware

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Wednesday signed Executive Order #23 creating the Governor’s Complete Count Commission (SCCC) to assist with the 2020 Census. A recommendation of the U.S. Census Bureau, State Complete Count Commissions will help raise awareness and encourage full participation from Delawareans and make sure everyone is counted.

Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long will chair the commission. Its membership will be compromised of individuals representing various sectors including state and local government, faith-based organizations, nonprofits, underrepresented populations, and business. The commission will provide a report to the Governor by January 1, 2020 outlining recommendations and strategies for maximizing participation in the 24th decennial census in 2020.

“It’s important that all Delawareans are counted in the next Census, to ensure that all available resources are reaching residents in our state who need them most,” said Governor Carney. “This commission will specifically help identify and reach populations that have historically been difficult to count, including young children, non-English speakers, renters, and homeless Delawareans. Thank you to Lt. Governor Hall-Long for taking the lead on this important effort.”

“I am honored to Chair Delaware’s State Complete Count Commission,” said Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long. “Reaching those ‘hard to count’ populations is especially important. Census data is used for so many things from determining the number of congressional seats a state has to the amount of federal dollars a state receives for highways, schools and healthcare just to name a few. That’s why it’s crucial we count everyone in Delaware.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over $600 billion are dispersed from over 300 federal programs based upon census-generated figures.

“As a federally qualified health center, Westside Family Healthcare depends, in part, on Census data to help identify community needs and inform how to best allocate our limited resources to help fill the gap in services,” said Lolita A. Lopez, President & CEO of Westside Family Healthcare, who was appointed by the Governor to serve on the commission. “As an appointed member of the Complete Count Commission, Westside is committed to partnering with Governor Carney, Lt. Governor Hall-Long, and others to encourage the communities we serve to actively participate in the Census process. The 2020 Census is vitally important to Delaware’s future.”

The Reverend Rita Paige, another member of the commission appointed by Governor Carney, added, “Make sure you’re counted. We don’t want anyone left out!”

“We thank Governor Carney for his leadership in establishing the Delaware State Complete Count Commission,” said Fernando Armstrong, Philadelphia Regional Director of the US Census Bureau. “We look forward to working in partnership with Lt Governor Hall-Long and the entire Commission in counting all Delawareans in the 2020 Census.”

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Governor Carney signs “Mental Health Parity” Legislation

Senate Bill 230 addresses first recommendation of Behavioral Health Consortium’s Action Plan

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Wednesday signed Senate Bill 230 beside members of the General Assembly, Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long and the Behavioral Health Consortium, and other mental health and addiction advocates.

“I am proud to sign this bill into law, a concrete step to assist Delawareans dealing every day with mental illness and drug and alcohol dependency,” said Governor John Carney. “This legislation recognizes that mental health and drug or alcohol dependency benefits should be treated the same as medical benefits. Thank you to Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long for her leadership on this issue with the Behavioral Health Consortium, and to all of the advocates who helped with this legislation.”

Senate Bill 230, also known as Mental Health Parity, is a critical step to eliminating coverage discrimination in Delaware and mandating certain reporting requirements that will allow the state to determine if health insurance carriers and Medicaid managed care organizations are applying treatment limitations which may prevent someone from accessing care for their addiction or mental illness. The legislation will help ensure compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, passed by United States Congress in 2008, in order to ensure fair access to behavioral health treatment and making sure that those who need help can receive it.

“For far too long, people struggling with addiction and mental illness have not been treated fairly when it comes to getting the quality health care they need and deserve,” said Lt. Governor Hall-Long. “That ends now. This legislation is an important step to knocking down the barriers to treatment and eliminating stigma. I am thrilled we are enacting the first recommendation of the Behavioral Health Consortium’s Three Year Action Plan today.”

Lt. Governor Hall-Long, and members of the consortium, worked closely with former U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy on this legislation.

“I applaud Governor Carney for signing Senate Bill 230, which represents a major step forward in ending coverage discrimination against those with mental health and addiction challenges in Delaware,” said Patrick Kennedy, Founder of the Kennedy Forum. “Make no mistake: This new law will save lives. By forcing health plans to submit proof of their compliance with parity laws, Senate Bill 230 shifts the burden back to insurance companies and away from families in crisis. I would particularly like to thank Lieutenant Governor Hall-Long, whom I worked closely with on this bill, for her outstanding leadership, as well as Representative Bentz, Senator Townsend, and Senator Henry for helping to expand access to treatment.”

Senate Bill 230 requires health insurance issuers to complete an initial analysis, and submit a report to the Department of Insurance and the Delaware Health Information Network.

“Mental health and substance abuse disorders are among the greatest public health challenges that our country and our state face,” said Senator Bryan Townsend, prime sponsor of Senate Bill 230. “It’s important for our entire health care system, from public policy to commercial insurance, to respond to that challenge by demonstrating that we value mental health just as much as physical health and that parity is a standard we take seriously in Delaware. I’m thankful to the Lt. Governor for her advocacy on this issue and to Gov. Carney for signing this bill into law.”

“The Behavioral Health Consortium gives us the opportunity to take a deep dive into Delaware’s challenges as they relate to behavioral and mental health. I thank Lt. Gov Hall-Long for her leadership on these issues,” said Representative David Bentz. “Senate Bill 230 was a collaborative effort that increases reporting of insurance coverage for mental and behavioral health in an effort to help us get a clear picture of the care in our state. Addiction is a disease – like cancer or heart disease – and we should be doing what we can to combat it and help those who struggle.”

Stakeholders, such as the Ability Network of Delaware and NAMI Delaware, were also heavily involved in the passage of this legislation.

“Ultimately, real parity breaks down the final barrier to stigma,” said Carolyn Petrak, Associate Executive Director of the Ability Network of Delaware.  “When insurers cover mental health and substance use disorders in an unbiased measure and those seeking treatment need not weigh the cost maybe then, the barriers that stigma creates start to crumble.”

“Already there is significant stigma about mental health conditions. Only about half of the 1 in 5 Americans affected by mental illness seek treatment each year,” said Anne Slease, Director of Advocacy & Education for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Delaware. “Overcoming the stigma is a big obstacle. Paying the bill shouldn’t have to be.”

Click HERE for photos from the bill signing.

 

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DHSS Secretary Walker Sends Health Care Spending and Quality Benchmark Recommendations to Governor Carney

NEW CASTLE (Aug. 27, 2018) – Culminating nearly a year of outreach to and feedback from health stakeholders across the state, Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Secretary Dr. Kara Odom Walker today sent her recommendations for establishing health care spending and quality benchmarks to Governor John Carney. The work on the benchmarks began last summer when the General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution 7 authorizing DHSS to develop a health care spending benchmark. The Governor signed that legislation in September 2017, just months after an analysis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showed Delaware had the third-highest per-capita health care spending rate in the country. That fall, DHSS and Secretary Walker began a series of summits to explore how a spending benchmark could work in Delaware. While the overall health of Delawareans has been improving – Delaware is ranked 30th among the states, according to America’s Health Rankings – the pace of that improvement is trailing the growth of health care spending across the state.

As a way to increase transparency and to tie health care spending to improved outcomes for Delawareans, Governor Carney signed Executive Order 19 in February 2018, creating an advisory group of health care leaders and other key stakeholders to provide feedback to Secretary Walker on strategies for developing spending and quality benchmarks. The advisory group provided its summary report in June 2018.

Based on months of feedback, research and deliberations, Secretary Walker’s recommendations to Governor Carney include:

* The health care spending benchmark should be expressed as a rate using a calculated measure of the per-capita potential gross state product (PGSP) growth, that the Governor should set the initial benchmark for 2019 and that the initial benchmark should remain in place for five years.

* The Delaware Finance Advisory Committee (DEFAC) should establish a new Health Care Spending Benchmark Subcommittee to review the inflation component of the benchmark and the methodology of calculating the benchmark for 2024 and beyond.

* The Health Care Commission should be responsible for setting the health care spending benchmark in the future and consider changes to the benchmark target between 2020 and 2023 if the DEFAC Health Care Spending Benchmark Subcommittee so recommends.

* The Health Care Commission should collect timely and accurate data from licensed health insurers – using the Health Care Claims Database – to inform setting the spending and quality benchmarks, and assessing performance.

* The quality benchmarks should be established to “monitor and establish accountability for improved health care quality that bends the health care cost growth curve.”

* The quality benchmarks should be focused on high-priority areas, including ambulatory care-sensitive emergency department visits; opioid-related overdose deaths and co-prescribed opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions; and cardiovascular disease prevention.

* That there should be aspirational benchmarks along with more incremental annual benchmarks, and that the Health Care Commission (HCC) should convene a time-limited advisory group to inform the HCC on whether the quality measures should change to reflect new priorities or improved performance.

“I want to thank the hundreds of health care leaders, advocates and consumers across our state who provided feedback on the spending and quality benchmarks,” said Secretary Walker, a board-certified family physician. “They understand the need for our health care system to change in order to be sustainable and to meet the ongoing needs of the patients we serve.”

Secretary Walker encouraged stakeholders to provide feedback to DHSS through ourhealthde@delaware.gov. Ongoing updates also will be posted on DHSS’ health care website, www.ChooseHealthDE.com.

Delaware historically has ranked among the top 10 states in per-capita health care spending, including in 2014, when the state had the third-highest per-capita rate, behind only Alaska and Massachusetts. The 50-state analysis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), released in 2017, found that Delaware’s per-capita rate was $10,254, or more than 27 percent higher than the U.S. average of $8,045. Without changes, the analysis estimated that Delaware’s total health care spending would more than double from $9.5 billion in 2014 to $21.5 billion in 2025. Yet Delaware ranked only 30th among the states for overall health in 2017, according to America’s Health Rankings.


Delaware’s Behavioral Health Consortium selected to partner with The Pew Charitable Trusts

Delaware selected as one of only two states in the nation to participate

 New Castle, Del. – On Tuesday, Lt. Governor Hall-Long joined members of Delaware’s Behavioral Health Consortium and members of The Pew Charitable Trusts to announce a newly formed partnership that will work to reshape Delaware’s behavioral health treatment system for those struggling with addiction and mental illness.  Delaware is one of only 2 states nationwide that will partner with Pew to assess the treatment system, work to close the gaps, and create a more unified statewide continuum of care for those in need.

“We are dealing with one of the most severe public health epidemics in generations.” said Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long. “We need an all hands on deck approach to fight back and save lives. This partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts will allow Delaware to leverage critical resources and experience to develop a treatment system that works for all Delawareans.”

Over the next several months, Pew will work closely with the Behavioral Health Consortium, chaired by Lt. Governor Hall-Long, in coordination with state agency leaders, elected officials, and key stakeholders to identify gaps across the treatment system, and develop strategic solutions and policies to tackle the opioid epidemic.

“Opioid use disorder is a public health crisis and a complex brain disease, but it can be managed effectively with evidence-based treatment,” said Pew’s senior director of health programs Allan Coukell. “Pew looks forward to partnering with Delaware’s Behavioral Health Consortium, under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Hall-Long, and the Delaware General Assembly to address opioid use disorder in the state and help get more Delaware residents the treatment they need.”

In 2017, Delaware experienced 345 overdose deaths, which is a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Over 29,000 Delawareans suffer from a serious mental illness.

“Pew’s expertise and leadership will be critical to reviewing and analyzing best practices and strategies around claims, insurance payment systems, and other forms of reimbursement in Delaware to ensure anyone who needs treatment can get it,” said Elizabeth Romero, Director of Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and public policy organization, will partner with Delaware to develop recommendations to strengthen the treatment system and provide timely access to comprehensive, evidence-based care for substance use disorders. Pew supports the development of state and federal policies that reduce the inappropriate use of prescription opioids and expand access to effective treatment.

 

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