OMHSAS STAKEHOLDERS MEETING

OCTOBER 17, 2024
NOTES

PSYCH REHAB REGS (Jill Stemple)
Approved by the IRRC on September 19
Primary Changes are:
 Serving 14-18 year olds
 Expanded qualifying diagnosis
 Reduces burdens on providers – requires just a daily attendance – weekly progress note
 Supervision can be conducted virtually
The regulation still has to go through the PA Office of Attorney General and Legislative
Reference Bureau. Then it will be published in the registry for public comments
There will be TA sessions in mid-November
Reference link
https://www.irrc.state.pa.us/regulations/RegSrchRslts.cfm?ID=3432.

Starting November 2, 2024 and closing December 2, 2024, the public may submit written comments,
suggestions or objections regarding the proposed rulemaking to the Department via email at: RA-
PWPRTFRegs@pa.gov

FOUR WALLS (Jen Smith)
There has been a lot of work at both the federal and state level.
Federal Solution
CMS has issued a proposed rule to waive this for behavioral health clinics. There is broad support
for this. Hopefully, this will be finalized by the end of the year.
PA Solution
The first solution did not work. It was part of a larger bill that did not pass. Now OMHSAS will
reimburse mental health clinics for managed care, but not fee-for-service. This will at least help the
managed care providers.
OMHSAS is confident there will be a solution soon

988 UPDATE (Dr. Adair)

Date from September indicates a 91% in-state answer even though there was an increase in call
volume.
Comparison between September 23 and September 24 shows a 45% increase.
Georouting went into effect in September. This allows the call to be routed to the nearest call center
of the caller’s location. It is voluntary. Cellular carriers do not have to agree to it. However, the
FCC is putting out a rulemaking making it mandatory for all carriers. There are 2 call centers
onboarding. They should be on board by Jan 1, 2025.

CERTIFIED CLINICAL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER UPDATE (Jen Smith)
PA initially participated in the demonstration. Later, decided to convert to a state-specific
integrated community center. The demonstration ends in September 2025. States in the
demonstration will have to decide how to financially sustain the demonstration. It did not make
sense for PA to rejoin the demonstration. In the next 12-15 months, OMHSAS will target:
 Looking for the differences between CCBH and ICC.
 Searching for funding
 Amend state plan to be approved by Jan 2026
There is a lot of support to continue expanding these types of services.

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COUNCIL REPORT (Jen Smith)
The Council so far has covered a wide variety of topics. The next goal will be a report with
recommendations. The next step after the report will be to assign action items. The intention is to
release the report for comments by this winter.