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
- Support Funding Boost for Behavioral Health Technology (4/10/23) | THA
- Modernization Boosts Access for Behavioral Health Care (3/27/23) | THA
- Process to Protect People in Crisis (3/22/23) | THA
- Electronic Applications Streamline Detentions (3/21/23) | THA
- Streamline Orders of Protective Custody for Patients in Crisis (1/30/23) | THA
- Improve Access to Mental Health Treatment With an IMD Exclusion Waiver (1/11/23) | THA
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: Mandy Westerman, LCSW, Kingwood Pines Hospital
Vice Chair: Zelia Baugh, JPS Health Network, Fort Worth
Aleen Arabit, San Antonio Behavioral Healthcare Hospital
Christine (Chris) Bryan, Clarity Child Guidance Center, San Antonio
Heather Chung, Ph.D, Houston Methodist Hospital
Jacob Cuellar, MD, Laurel Ridge Treatment Center, San Antonio
Sally E. Taylor, MD, University Health, San Antonio
Sherry L. Cusumano, RN, Medical City Green Oaks, Dallas
Christopher R. Dowers, Westpark Springs, Richmond
Kathy Griffis, Titus Regional Medical Center, Mount Pleasant
Charlzetta (Charlie) McMurray-Horton, Ben Taub General Hospital – Harris Health System, Houston
Stephen M. (Steve) Glazier, FACHE, UT Harris County Psychiatric Center, Houston
Edgar E. Prettyman, Psy.D, Texas NeuroRehab Center, Austin
Becky Tresnicky, Valley Baptist Medical Center – Brownsville
Staff Representative: Sara González, Texas Hospital Association, Austin
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