TRICARE; Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
2016-02-17 2016-02-17 2016-02-17 2016-02-22 2016-03-30 2016-04-06 2016-03-31 2016-02-17 2016-03-23 2016-03-29
DOD-2015-HA-0109-0016 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0025 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0032 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0048 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0131 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0179 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0139 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0035 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0084 DOD-2015-HA-0109-0110
05:00:00 05:00:00 05:00:00 05:00:00 04:00:00 04:00:00 04:00:00 05:00:00 04:00:00 04:00:00
https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0016 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0025 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0032 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0048 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0131 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0179 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0139 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0035 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0084 https://api.regulations.gov/v4/comments/DOD-2015-HA-0109-0110
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The accreditation body, CARF is a great partner to the DoD goal of increasing its veterans Behavioral Health benefits, and the Proposed Rule, entitled TRICARE: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment.CARF has excellent standards that guides its accredited groups to deliver the highest level of services to all.I am encouraging the DoD to approve CARF as an accreditor under TRICARE regulations because many groups like MedMark ay be eligible to become part of its network.  We see that we may be of service to the area veterans.  We currently serve a handful of veterans that are able to afford paying for this service.  Many other veterans will benefits from our service if DoD will approve CARF as an accreditor.thank you for your efforts! People experiencing substance use disorders are often stigmatized and are less likely to seek assistance without an external motivating factor.  This is especially true for our military members and their families, as they are limited to seek services from their virtual employers through the VA system.  The proposed changes will benefit our veterans by allowing them greater freedom to seek services at an earlier stage in the addiction process.  By offering a variety of treatment programs and modalities, the VA will shift from force fitting an individual into the program available and start matching individuals to programs based on individual needs, strengths, abilities, and interests.The proposed changes will also have a positive impact on community based providers and enhance local economies by streamlining the requirements for community based institutions to become participating providers.   CARF is the best possible accreditation agency to credential providers to work with TRICARE.  We are CARF accredited and am very happy with the quality of the review they provide.  I have total confidence in CARF. We at Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism are responding in support of this Proposed Rule, and the expansion of services for TRICARE beneficiaries. The reduction of barriers to funding of services will expand options and access for veterans and their families needing treatment for mental health and substance use disorder. If aligned with MHPAEA and ACA parity regulations, this a great step forward for this population.  Midwestern Connecticut Council of Alcoholism have received numerous calls from men and women either active in the service or retired that have Tricare as their insurance and are very willing to provide mental health, alcohol and substance abuse treatment to them as well as their family members.  We at Midwestern Connecticut would appreciate the opportunity to join the Tricare network of providers and serve the needs of the Tricare members and their families in our community and surrounding areas.As a CARF accredited facility we additionally support the expansion of accreditation options to meet the accreditation mandate of the Proposed Rule for network providers, and particularly support the approval of CARF International. Dear Mr. Levine, We at Family Service of Rhode Island, accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), support the Defense Departments proposed rule, Tricare: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment. The expansion of mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to more service members and their families is extremely important in helping our organization meet their needs. Furthermore, we support the acknowledgement of the need for recognition of additional accreditation bodies. While Tricares comprehensive certification standards were once considered necessary to ensure quality and safety, these comprehensive certification requirements are now proving to be overly restrictive and, at times, inconsistent with current industry-based institutional provider standards. There are currently several geographic areas that are inadequately served because providers in those regions do not meet Tricare certification requirements, even though they may meet the industry standard. The proposed rule seeks to streamline Tricare regulations to be consistent with industry standards for authorization of qualified institutional providers of mental health and SUD treatment. We fully support this change as it will result in an increase in the number of providers and in the geographic areas covered by services. Reducing administrative barriers and aligning the services and supports with those of other medical/healthcare benefits is the right thing to do for military members and their families. Sincerely,Margaret Holland McDuff, CEO As a person living with a mental health condition as well as having family members who have served in the military, I want to send my support for these efforts by the DOD to update Tricare to ensure there is parity between physical and mental health / substance use disorders. Removing the barriers and stigma that get in the way of individuals having access to care is a critical step to take.It is important that ALL Americans, but particularly those who have served our country, have access to the care they need in order to live well.   The proposed rule does not allow for intensive outpatient treatment or partial hospitalization programs for TRICARE beneficiaries who are younger than 13 years of age. My son was five when he first started to see and hear things. By ten he was suicidal. At 14 he made a real attempt, and at 15 he is in his third partial hospitalization. The majority of kids he is in treatment with are half his age. Its these under 13 kids who without treatment will end up in Judi or worse yet in a pine box. Theres no age people catch mental illness and there is no cure. It manifests when it wants and therapy is often a parents only hope. Its already hrs enough to get treatment lets not limiti it by some arbitrary age.  We at Turning Point Counseling Services in Fairbanks, Alaska are responding in support of this Proposed Rule, and the expansion of services for TRICARE beneficiaries. The reduction of barriers to funding of services will expand options and access for veterans and their families needing treatment for mental health and substance use disorder. If aligned with MHPAEA and ACA parity regulations, this a great step forward for this population. We additionally support the expansion of accreditation options to meet the accreditation mandate of the Proposed Rule for network providers, and particularly support the approval of CARF International.We are a We are CARF accredited  outpatient treatment program which includes, Psychiatry, Intensive Outpatient Substance Use Disorder treatment, Mental health therapy, Trauma informed yoga and mindfulness training among other services designed specifically for treating patients experiencing PTSD and Addiction as well as all other DSM V diagnoses in a holistic and integrated way. We have for years hoped to treat veterans and Tricare beneficiaries and have been stonewalled by Tricare. It has never made sense to me why this restriction  was in place, but have been unable to make any headway. In our community there is no provider that can provide SUD treatment to Tricare beneficiaries which means that regardless of ASAM placement criteria, they must be sent to inpatient treatment. We have two bases here locally! This is tantamount to sending a laceration patient to the ICU. It is poor patient care. I whole heartedly support this measure and welcome and follow up questions. Respectfully, Gunnar Ebbesson We at Catholic Charities, Inc. accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), support the Defense departments proposed rule, Tricare: Mental Health and Substance Abuse. The expansion of mental health and substance use disorder services to more servicemembers and their families is extremely important to our organization. Furthermore, we support the acknowledgement of the need for recognition of additional accreditation bodies. We would like to advocate for the COA to be included as an approved accrediting body. COA is recognized in over 220 instances by international, federal, state, and provincial governments in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. MS has only one approved provider for Tricare members.  That is a psychiatric hospital, Brentwood, in Jackson, MS.  This severely limits, particularly the outpatient services, that the servicemembers and their families can receive. Thank you for your consideration. As a participant in the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and on behalf of those with the lived experience of depression or bipolar disorder, I support the efforts of DOD to update the Tricare Program to:ensure parity between mental and substance abuse disorders and other medical conditions,reduce administrative barriers to access mental health benefit coverage, andimprove access to substance abuse disorder treatment for TRICARE beneficiaries.It is important that all Americans covered under a health insurance program benefit from coverage parity.Please help continue the fight against the stigma on mental health illness by providing the medical services needed. 