Bipartisan Group of Senate Finance Committee Leaders Propose Plan to Expand Mental Telehealthcare
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of Senate Finance Committee
Leaders prosed a plan for expanding telehealth access for mental
health services.
The committee's plan would eliminate Medicare's in-person visit
requirement prior to patients seeking online mental health
services. This requi...
New Jersey Recorded More than 4,300 Drug, Alcohol, and Suicide Deaths in 2020
Yesterday, Trust for America's Health released a
report that found that alcohol, drugs, and suicide
accounted for 186,763 deaths across the U.S. in 2020.
In New Jersey, there were 826 alcohol-induced deaths and 2,921
drug-related deaths in 2020. These numbers represent increases of
2...
Shootings, Tragic Deaths and Lasting Trauma Underscore Need for Strong Laws and Increased Access
Shootings, Tragic Deaths and Lasting Trauma Underscore
Need for Strong Laws and Increased Access to Services
- Statement from Debra L. Wentz, PhD, President and
CEO
The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction
Agencies, Inc. (NJAMHAA) is devastated to hear about the hor...
Lack of Federal COVID-19 Funds May Soon Lead to Supply Rationing
May 24, 2022
Nearly all of the money in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan
that was dedicated directly to the COVID-19 response has been
spent, and the White House is planning for a number of
contingencies if more COVID-19 funding is not approved by
Congress. Among these contingen...
Public Health Emergency Expected to Be Extended Past July
May 23, 2022
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a
COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) in January 2020. Since
then, the PHE has been continually reviewed and renewed. The last
official extension of the PHE took place on April 16, 2022, which
extended the P...
House Energy & Commerce Committee Votes in Favor of MAT Act Amendments, Paving Way for House Vote
May 19, 2022
On May 18th, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce
Committee voted to approve an amendment to the Mainstreaming
Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, to remove the buprenorphine
X-Waiver, and to move the MAT Act out of committee. The
Committee, Chaired by Representative Frank Pallo...
Biden Administration Releases New Housing Supply Action Plan
May 17, 2022
Today, the Biden Administration released a new Housing
Supply Action Plan with the aim of closing the housing
supply gap in five years. This plan, part of the
Administration's efforts to combat inflation, looks to
...
NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission Faces Harsh Questioning during Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
May 16, 2022
On Thursday, May 12, 2022, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary
Committee held a hearing that primarily scrutinized and raised
concerns about the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission's
(CRC's) rollout of legal marijuana in the state. The hearing,
which lasted five hours, ...
FDA Approves Olumiant for COVID-19 Treatment
May 12, 2022
On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
announced approval of a new indication, or justification for
prescription, of the drug Olumiant (baricitinib) for treatment of
COVID-19 in hospitalized adults requiring supplemental oxygen,
non-invasive or invasive...
Lack of Inpatient Psychiatric Services Forces Hundreds of Suicidal Teens to Spend Nights in ERs
May 10, 2022
As the mental health crisis continues to wear on in the U.S., an
increasing number of youth are vying for a limited number of
treatment openings. The situation can become even worse when
those individuals are mandated such treatment by emergency room
doctors.
At Bosto...
FDA Restricts Use of J&J’s COVID-19 Vaccine over Blood Clot Risk
May 9, 2022
On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
announced that it had limited the authorized use of the Johnson
& Johnson (J&J; also referred to as Janssen) COVID-19
vaccine due to the risk of developing thrombosis with
thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), a d...
Providers Make Up for Language Barrier Shortcomings in Current Telehealth Services
May 5, 2022
While the expansion of telehealth services has improved access to
care for many Americans, it has also ushered in a new set of
challenges for others. One such issue relates to individuals who
don't speak English and others who have limited English speaking
skills facing ht...
Fentanyl, Lack of Access to Life-Saving Drugs Present Major Issues in Battle against Opioid Crisis
May 3, 2022
While over the past 10 years, the New Jersey Legislature
has passed dozens of bills aimed at expanding access to
treatment, education, and life-saving drugs like
naloxone, as well as changing how many drug crimes are
...
Reports Further Substantiates Youth Mental Health Crisis as Adolescent Suicides Spike in New Jersey
May 2, 2022
A new report published in
JAMA found that the COVID-19 pandemic has only
worsened an already existing mental health crisis among youth in
the U.S. The issue is particularly relevant in New Jersey, which
was one of only five states included in the study that witnessed
a ...
75% of Kids in the U.S. Have Had COVID-19, CDC Estimates
April 28, 2022
An
early release of a report by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday estimated that three out
of every four children in the U.S. have been infected with
COVID-19 at one point since the pandemic began. In addition to
approximately 75% of all...
NJAMHAA and Members Sponsor 35th Anniversary Celebration of the SBYSP
April 26, 2022
Please join in the virtual 35th Anniversary
Celebration of the School-Based Youth Services Program
(SBYSP) on April 27th at 4:00 p.m.
Sponsors of this program are NJAMHAA; three NJAMHAA
me...
Biden Admin. Releases National Drug Control Strategy with Emphasis on Harm Reduction and Treatment
April 25, 2022
On Thursday, President Joe Biden released and directed to
Congress his Administration's
National Drug Control Strategy, which proposes
targeted actions to expand access to evidence-based prevention,
harm reduction, treatment and recovery services, while reducing
the ...
CMS Releases New Health Equity Strategy
April 21, 2022
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has outlined
an action plan for its new health equity strategy. This is a part
of an ongoing effort to provide high-quality, affordable health
care for all people, regardless of their backgrounds.
As quoted in a
...
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Constitutional Challenge to $10K SALT Cap
April 19, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court decided today that it would decline to
hear a constitutional challenge to the current $10,000 cap on
SALT (state and local tax) deductions. The case was presented to
the Supreme Court by New Jersey and three other states where
taxpayers have been ...
Biden Administration Releases Health Equity Plan, Among Others
Yesterday, the Biden Administration released
plans to advance equity and racial justice through the
federal government for a number of areas of interest,
including health equity. Among the other areas for which equity
plans were released are economic justice, educational equity,
enviro...
