National Council for Behavioral Health

April 21, 2016

Board Minutes

Board Members Present:

Susan Blue, Chair

Don Miskowiec, First Vice Chair

Jeff Richardson, Second Vice Chair

Tim Swinfard, Secretary-Treasurer

Brent McGinty, Chair, Association Executives Committee

Matt Brooks, 100% Association Representative

Rich Leclerc, Chair, Audit Committee

Randy Tate, Chair, Membership Committee

Victor Armstrong

Danette Castle

Cari Cho

Bob Davison

Mark Fontaine

Topher Hansen
Alan Hartl
Walter Hill
Sara Howe


Susie Huhn
Mark Ishaug

Steve Ronik

Art Schut
Christine Stoner-Mertz

Jeff Walter

Ed Woods

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Staff in Attendance: Linda Rosenberg, Jeannie Campbell, Alicia Aebersold, Chuck Ingoglia, Bruce Pelleu, Kara Guerriero, and Khimee Leong

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Susan Blue, Board Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:33 PM.

Chair Report

Provided by Susan Blue

Susan briefly spoke about NatCon16 and noted that it was a tremendous and remarkable conference.

m/s/p: Motion to approve the 11/19/2015 and 12/17/2015 minutes as presented and amended. Approved unanimously.

CEO Report

Provided by Linda Rosenberg, CEO

Linda Rosenberg and Chuck Ingoglia, Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Practice Improvement recently testified before the Senate Finance Committee about legislation to increase access to and quality of behavioral health services in the U.S. Linda noted that this opportunity was important to National Council’s visibility and would help to promote integration and improve treatment services.

An agreement has been reached with the Mental Health Association of Maryland regarding Mental Health First Aid. Following mediation, the lawsuit has been concluded. The National Council has complete control of the MHFA store front, curriculum, program operations, and will continue to work closely with our partners in Missouri. Maryland and Missouri will still benefit from the program as they will still conduct trainings within their own states. More details will be disclosed during the June board meeting.

Linda recently met with LendLease, an international construction company currently providing MHFA training to their employees in Australia, and they are interested in being more involved in the U.S. as well as in wellness initiatives, and a potential partnership with the National Council is being explored.

The Medical Director’s Advisory Council is meeting regularly via conference call and one of the topics they are focused on is the shortage of access to psychiatrists. The medical directors will produce its first white paper on the subject, exploring what the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and other medical groups have done in the area as well as presenting recommendations at every level of government and provide resources for education and training. The Medical Director’s Advisory Council will also be assisting with the major curriculum review being planned for MHFA in 2017.

Hill Day and the June Board meetings are quickly approaching. Meiram Bendat, a prominent lawyer working on parity issues, will attend some of the policy meetings Wednesday morning, June 8th meeting. The board was asked to think about questions to bring to the meetings. Also at the board meetings, the Finance & Administration Committee will be discussing potential investment opportunities, prompted by a conversation with Scott Cousino, CEO of myStrength. Chuck Ingoglia is also working with Jonathan Evans, President and CEO of InnovaTel Telepsychiatry, I who are interested in working with the National Council as a new strategic partner.

This past week, staff submitted an IDIQ proposal to CMS for a program similar to CIHS but focused on behavioral health financing reform and innovation. If the National Council is selected, the grant will bring in $5.6 million for the next three years.

Staff is also continuing to develop the National Council’s relationship with the CDC and expects to continue to see funding expand.

Linda thanked everyone who came to New York for the Dr. Oz taping. The relationship we have been able to develop with him is helping to raise the National Council’s brand and target new audiences.

Public Policy Report

Provided by Chuck Ingoglia, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Practice Improvement

The Energy and Commerce Committee marked up a couple opiate bills which would raise the cap for the TREAT Act. This would raise the patient limits on physicians who are certified to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid treatment and allow physician assistants to prescribe buprenorphine. Whether or not this provision is built into any legislation with a likelihood of being passed, it is good progress. It is anticipating that CARA will be marked up in the House in May, but grant programs will need to be funded separately. The Energy and Commerce Committee will mark up nearly two dozen bills this week, more than half of which could be part of the House’s broader legislative package on opioids.

In the last few weeks, CMS released a mental health and substance use disorder parity rule for Medicaid. The National Council is working on a fact sheet around the rule and it will be released soon.

Chuck had a follow-up meeting with the DEA regarding the Ryan Haight Act and the prescribing of controlled substances, specifically benzodiazepines. The DEA has limited understanding of the behavioral health services delivery system but the National Council is working to continue to engage and educate them. There are challenges with potential regulatory recommendations that could present a problem to community behavioral healthcare providers.

In New Mexico, following many challenging years for the behavioral healthcare system, new bills have been proposed to promote transparency regarding any accusations of fraud or abuse, before provider payments are terminated. Unfortunately, most of the previously existing mental health providers have gone out of business, even though some have been cleared of charges.

National Council staff continue to work with CMS related to CCBHC quality measures to reduce the number of requirements. There are too many and it will be difficult for providers to collect and report the currently requested data.

Regarding the upcoming Hill Day, there are currently 497 registrants and we expect that number to continue to grow.

2016 Budget/Finance & Administration Report

Provided by Bruce Pelleu, CFO/Vice President, Finance & Administration

Six months into FY2016, the National Council’s current YTD net surplus is $6.6m. Cash and investments balance are similar to past years, and due to strong performance from consulting, membership dues, and conference registrations, revenue growth stands at $19.3million with the surplus consistent with the last two years. Staff recently reviewed the indirect expense rate with the assistance of external consultants, and the National Council will be moving forward with all new RFPs utilizing a more strategic process for estimating indirect expense rates. At this time there are no major concerns to report.

Membership Report

Provided by Kara Guerriero, Vice President, Membership and Corporate Relations

To date for FY2016, 474 new members have joined, due in large part to Jeff Walter and the merger of the Connecticut Community Providers Association, a 100% Association as of last year, and the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits. The current renewal rate stands at 96%, and that number should go up more; 60% of members who did not renew went out of business, merged or left the membership of a 100% Association.

An update was provided related to the Spring board elections. The nominating committee will review all candidates and voting will open to the membership before the end of the month and will be open for a month, per the bylaws.

Staff has been working on a board dashboard that will be distributed shortly, based on commitments made at the January board retreat.

Linda announced that Kara Guerriero will be moving to North Carolina but has promised to stay involved with the National Council.

Communications Report

Provided by Alicia Aebersold, Senior Vice President, Communications and Strategic Development

Alicia thanked those that went to see the Dr. Oz taping; it was a great a trip that will enhance our brand. The National Council’s relationship with Dr. Oz has impacted the kind of shows he’s doing and he has done a significant number of programs on addictions that are elevating awareness. Dr. Oz was also able to shoot a web-only piece with the National Council board that will drive issues around behavioral health.

The National Council held a successful event in partnership with the Atlantic with more than 300 attendees . Our hashtag, #BH365, was trending with 3 million impressions on the day of the event. Becky Vaughn, Vice President for Addictions, did a brilliant job. The National Council will also be featured in Time magazine, YES! magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. Our presence is getting stronger and we expect coverage to continue to increase in the future with major reporters coming to Hill Day. Linda was also recently interviewed in Money Magazine who are doing a 3 part series on how the average American can obtain help with mental health and addictions issues.

Other Business

There being no other business, the call concluded at 3:26 pm.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors will be May 19, 2016.

These minutes have been reviewed and approved by the National Council Board of Directors (xx/xx/2016).

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Tim Swinfard, Secretary/Treasurer

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Susan Blue, Chair

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