Public Policy

Advocacy, education, and political action are the core activities of the NAADAC Public Policy Department.

In Congress, we work closely with members and their staffs to advance legislation that promotes access to effective, science-based, clinically appropriate care for all who suffer from substance use/addiction disorder and co-occurring diseases.
With the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and key federal agencies & offices including the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affiars (INL), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), we advocate for the application of public policies that will strengthen our profession and benefit the clients we serve.
In coalition with other associations and national organizations, we educate and inform the public and our leaders on the addiction issues that impact one in four Americans.

NAADAC continues to focus on the following initiatives:

Ensuring that the Affordable Care Act is not repealed until there is a substantive replacement that meets the needs of those with substance use and co-occurring disorders and that insurance parity for substance use and co-occurring disorders are fairly and effectively implemented and monitored.
Growing and developing the addiction professional workforce in the 21^st century.
Increasing federal funding levels for addiction prevention, treatment, recovery, and research programs.

NAADAC believes that advocacy is the lifeblood of securing and sustaining the addiction profession and uses the following list of components as tools to empower addiction-focused professionals and educate policymakers:

Public policy (bills, rules, and regulations);
Budget and funding of addiction and co-occurring related services;
Communication of the mission of the addiction profession and the addiction professional; and
Strategies for recruitment, retention and training toward workforce development.

Without the dedicated advocates who empower the profession, our members and their clients will not have a voice.

What is public policy? It is a body of laws, plans, actions, and behaviors of a government and in this case, NAADAC, that reflect the attitudes and rules selected for the good of the substance use disorder/addiction clients, their families and the addiction professionals who serve them.

Why is public policy important to the addiction professional? Public policy is the vehicle through which we can ensure the work of addiction-focused professionals is sustained and secured through funding, education/training, and other supportive systems.

Privacy and Health Information Systems

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) announced on June 16, 2010, the release of FAQs for Applying the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations to Health Information Exchanges (HIEs).

Cover letter regarding the FAQs by Pamela S. Hyde, the Administrator of SAMHSA, and David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for ONC. The letter describes that the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations under 42 CFR Part 2 were enacted years ago (circa 1975). Due to the age of the regulations SAMHSA and ONC created the FAQs to provide guidance and understanding of the scope of these regulations in the context of today's move toward an electronic health information system.
Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations FAQs - A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document for applying the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations to Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) was released on 6/16/2010. This document is an educational tool that serves as a resource for practitioners in the field, as they are applying the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations to Health Information Exchange activities, but does not provide legal advice to its user. The FAQs outline the general requirements under 42 CFR Part 2, provide guidance on its application to HIEs, and identify methods for including substance abuse related health information into HIEs that is consistent with the Federal statute.
As a follow-up to the release of the FAQs, SAMHSA and ONC will convene a meeting of concerned or interested parties from both the Behavioral Health and Information Technology (BH-IT) communities on August 4, 2010. The meeting will be an opportunity for SAMHSA and ONC to receive questions and comments on the FAQs.

Health Care Reform

Throughout the healthcare reform legislative process, NAADAC was committed to ensuring that substance use disorder services and the professionals who provide them were fully included in all drafts of the legislation. Now, as we move into the implementation phase of the law, NAADAC will continue to work to ensure that the regulations for health care reform and insurance parity for substance use disorders are fairly and effectively implemented. Please find more information on health care reform below.

NAADAC is pleased to provide several new resources for addiction professionals concerning the Affordable Care Act (ACA):

Health Insurance Exchange Regulations

The Federal Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a proposed rule(NPRM) for the health insurance Exchanges created by the new health care reform law. It is very important that the Exchanges address mental health (MH) and substance use disorders (SUD) in the strongest way possible.

Health Reform Resources

NAADAC belongs to the Coalition for Whole Health, where advocates from the mental health and substance use disorder communities are working together on implementation of the Affordable Care Act.