Urging the President of the United States and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to halt implementation of the New 15-Day limit on Medicaid Coverage for addiction treatment in Residential Addiction Treatment Programs with more than 16 beds.

WHEREAS, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,662 Pennsylvanians lost their lives to preventable drug and alcohol related deaths in 2014; and

WHEREAS, One in four families is directly affected by a family member with an alcohol or drug problem; and

WHEREAS, According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2012, untreated addiction costs the United States an estimated $428 billion each year in loss of productivity, alcohol and drug related illnesses and health care, crashes, incarcerations, court, and other enforcement provisions; and

WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s share of the annual cost of untreated addiction is an estimated $21 billion; and

WHEREAS, According to a 1993 report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, one in every five dollars spent by Medicaid in hospitals is attributed to untreated drug and alcohol addiction; and

WHEREAS, According to a 1995 report by the National Institute of Justice, 80% to 90% of all crime in the United States is related to drug or alcohol addiction; and

WHEREAS, According to the National Survey of Substance Abuse in 2013, 88% of patients receiving inpatient addiction treatment receive treatment in a residential, nonhospital setting; and

WHEREAS, Also in 2013, 70% of patients receiving addiction treatment in residential settings remained there for more than 30 days; and

WHEREAS, A new rule from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services will limit Federal Medicaid match to 15 days a month; and

WHEREAS, This rule will severely damage the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia’s ability to address the heroin and opioid addiction epidemic. The Council of the City of Philadelphia has declared 2016 to be “The Year to Combat the Heroin Abuse Epidemic in Philadelphia”; and

WHEREAS, The new rule will severely reduce access to residential treatment for people who are poor, for pregnant addicted women and women with dependent children, and for low-level drug offenders coming out of jails and prisons; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, 29 United States Senators signed a letter strongly urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to remove drug and alcohol addiction treatment from the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) Exclusion; and

WHEREAS, In 2016, the National Governors Association identified elimination of the IMD Exclusion for substance use disorders as one of their priorities to help states expand access to addiction treatment; and

WHEREAS, The National Governors Association then wrote to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services opposing the 15-day limit; and

WHEREAS, Forty-three Governors signed the “Compact to Fight Opioid Addiction” that calls for reducing this type of administrative barrier in Medicaid; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs of the Commonwealth and the Department of Human Services of the Commonwealth oppose the 15-day limit; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Human Services estimates that the new 15-day limit will reduce funding for treatment by approximately $180 million a year; and

WHEREAS, Both the IMD Exclusion and the Medicaid rule violate the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby urge the President of the United States and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to halt implementation of the new 15-day limit on Medicaid coverage for addiction treatment in residential addiction treatment programs with more than 16 beds.

RESOLVED FURTHER, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor of Pennsylvania and to each member of Congress from Philadelphia to assist in efforts urging the President to halt implementation of the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule and urging the President to remove the drug and alcohol addiction treatment from the IMD Exclusion by executive order.

End