Behavioral/Mental Health

 More

One in five Texans experience a mental health condition each year. Half a million Texas children have a serious emotional disturbance. More than two-thirds of people with a behavioral health condition get no treatment for that condition.

Workforce shortages, limited funding and insurance/treatment barriers create obstacles to accessing appropriate behavioral health care. The result is that adults and children in Texas with behavioral health needs increasingly rely on clinically inappropriate settings, such as hospital emergency departments, to receive needed behavioral health treatment. To improve the behavioral health care system and improve access to care, the Texas Hospital Association supports:

  • A federal waiver from the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion rule, which currently caps Medicaid inpatient behavioral health stays at 15 days for Texans aged 21-64.
  • Increasing behavioral health hospital capacity by increasing contract beds and rates for state-contracted beds, both adult and pediatric.
  • Mandating Medicaid coverage for intensive outpatient therapy and partial hospitalization
  • Increasing funding to the Loan Repayment Program for Mental Health Professionals.
  • Streamline the detention warrant acquisition process through electronic warrant applications.
  • Create a grant program for behavioral health providers who lack access to electronic medical records and interoperability technology.

Additional information on THA’s behavioral health policy priorities is available here

Resources

Mental Health Parity

THA Behavioral Health Council

Charge: To discuss and make policy recommendations to the Council on Policy Development regarding behavioral health care issues affecting hospital members that provide behavioral health services (meets as needed).

MEMBERS

Chair: Jacob Cuellar, MD, Laurel Ridge Treatment Center
Sherry L Cusumano, RN, Medical City Green Oaks, Dallas
Kathy Griffis, Titus Regional Medical Center, Mount Pleasant
Brandy Hart, HCA Healthcare, Nashville, TN
Melissa Lehman, RN, CHRISTUS Health, Irving
Charlzetta (Charlie) McMurray-Horton, Ben Taub General Hospital – Harris Health System, Houston
Stephen M (Steve) Glazier, FACHE, UT Harris County Psychiatric Center, Houston
Laci Laird, Oceans Behavioral Hospital Lufkin
Edgar E Prettyman, Psy.D, Texas NeuroRehab Center, Austin
Becky Tresnicky, Valley Baptist Medical Center – Brownsville
Zelia Baugh, JPS Health Network, Fort Worth
Christine (Chris) Bryan, Clarity Child Guidance Center, San Antonio
Heather Chung, PhD, Houston Methodist Hospital
Sally E Taylor, MD, University Health, San Antonio
Staff Representative: Sara González, Texas Hospital Association, Austin

Related Articles

CEO Messages -- Off the Desk of John Hawkins, THA President/CEO

Behavioral Health: Top of Mind and Time For Change

With no shortage of polarizing issues circulating in Texas right now, one thing is clear no matter your politics: Mental health is top of mind.

Oceans Behavioral Health Hospital, Abilene

2021 Award Winner, Non-Research/Non-Teaching Hospital/Health System

Oceans Behavioral Health Hospital, Abilene
Project: Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

Rewriting the Behavioral Health Narrative

Rewriting the Behavioral Health Narrative

How Texas hospitals are taking on unprecedented demand for behavioral health care and helping suffering Texans find stability, treatment and hope.