E-Update for May 1, 2020 The weekly E-update is the tool by which MPA members can share information or announcements with each other. It is a member benefit and the mechanism by which MPA shares important notices regarding trends in psychiatry, pharmaceutical updates, information about your medical practice and job opportunities. Members are encouraged to make the content their own. Please submit items for weekly publication by Thursday at 5 PM and give specifics on how long the item should run. Your email addresses are protected by the DB and not for sale or use by any other entity besides the DB. Content should be pertinent to the practice of Psychiatry or related medical information. Review the E-update highlighted titles and attachments for content and action steps. We value your input and attention to your specialty! Any item that appears in royal blue contains a link for detailed information on the topic. Questions regarding membership status are referred to our APA Membership Coordinator, Donisha Berrryman. Her Direct Number: 202-459-9749 Email: [email protected] Legislative leaders return to Jackson today to strip Gov. Tate Reeves of CARES Act spending authority Lawmakers returned to Jackson Friday to assert their constitutional authority in spending about $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief money that Gov. Tate Reeves said he controlled. In a nearly unanimous vote and with sharp criticism from Reeves, the Legislature passed a bill that places almost all of those funds under its purview. Reeves claimed lawmakers were trying to "steal" that money. The governor railed against the Legislature at his Friday afternoon press conference, but it was unclear what actions he will take in response to the bill. The vote appeared veto-proof, with the House unanimously passing it and only two senators voting against it. It is the first major clash between Reeves and the Legislature since becoming governor, and it could have permanent implications for who holds the power to spend federal emergency money in Mississippi, the governor or lawmakers. Reeves claimed that as governor he is able to direct the $1.25 billion of federal CARES Act money that was recently deposited into state coffers, likening the situation to a major natural disaster like Hurricane Karina. He wants to hire a consulting company to oversee distribution of the money. Lawmakers of both parties asserted that it is the sole constitutional authority of the Legislature to appropriate that money. "We needed to either decide to let $1.25 billion be spent by an outside third party for a percentage of the deal or the Legislature was going to appropriate the money," Hosemann said. "It's as clear as that." The bill passed by the Legislature puts $1.15 billion of the federal CARES Act money under its purview. Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, and Sen. Melanie Sojourner, R-Natchez, voted no on the bill. Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, voted present. Every other lawmaker in both chambers Friday voted in support of the bill. They left $100 million under the purview of Reeves and the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration to defray the costs of state agencies and public institutions dealing with the coronavirus pandemic through the end of June. According to Reeves, the state is in a dire situation and needs fast action, burning through money as it responds to the medical and economic crisis. Hosemann and Speaker Philip Gunn said they are in constant contact with state agencies and public institutions responding to the pandemic. According to Hosemann, those groups are asking for about $230 million to refund what they have already spent in response to the coronavirus pandemic.However, Hosemann said these agencies have said they do not need this money immediately. Virtual Rally Held Tomorrow at 1:00 CST The Chair of APA’s Council on Advocacy and Government Relations, Kiki Kennedy, MD is helping to organize a virtual rally in coalition with her resident physicians and other medical providers at Yale to call for adequate PPE for frontline medical providers and the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. APA President, Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH will also be speaking. The virtual rally will take place tomorrow, Saturday, May 2nd at 1:00 pm CST. The website for the event can be found here: https://need-masks- today.squarespace.com/ It should be a great event with an incredible line up of speakers including: • Keegan-Michael Key, Actor, Writer, and Producer • Alysia Reiner, Actor, Producer, and Activist (Orange Is the New Black) • Neal Baer, Pediatrician, Educator, and TV Writer/Producer (ER, Designated Survivor, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) • Kavita Patel, Brookings Institution, Nonresident Fellow - Economic Studies and USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy • US Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) • US Representative Joe Kennedy III (MA) • US Representative Jason Crow, (CO) • Gillian Tett, Financial Times, Chair of Editorial Board and U.S. Editor-at-Large • Joe Nocera, Journalist, Bloomberg and commentator, NPR • Steven Clemons, The Hill, Editor-at-Large • Steve Liesman, CNBC, Senior Economics Reporter • Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history at Rice University, a commentator for CNN, and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair • Easton Lachapelle, CEO and Co-Founder, Unlimited Tomorrow • Dr. Eric Toner, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security • Dr. Lisa Lattanza, Yale School of Medicine, Dept. of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation • Dr. Megan Ranney, Emergency physician, Founding Director of the Brown Emergency Digital Health Innovation program, and an organizer at GetUsPPE.org • Dr. Sanjeev Sriram, CNMC Pediatrician, Senior Advisor at SS Works, Co-founder of Masks for America • Abbe Gluck, Professor at Yale Law School, Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale Medical School, and Professor in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale JUDGE CARLTON REEVES HELD STATUS TELECONFERENCE ON MISSISSIPPI MENTAL HEALTH CASE MONDAY On Monday, April 27, Judge Carlton Reeves held a status teleconference in the United States’ lawsuit against the State of Mississippi regarding Mississippi’s mental health system. The lawsuit alleges that Mississippi does not have enough of the right kind of services for people with mental illness to be able to live in the community if they want to. This is considered a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The State lost this lawsuit in September 2019 after a month-long trial in June of 2019. You can read more about the case and what led up to it in this background document. In February 2020, Judge Reeves appointed Michael Hogan to be the Special Master for the case, and to help both sides craft a remedy for the violations of the law that the trial revealed. A new level of transparency occurred by Judge Reeves making this conference open to the public. Both Judge Reeves and Dr. Hogan complimented the State of Mississippi and the United States for their collaborative and cooperative spirit. Judge Reeves also mentioned the Mississippi Psychiatric Association by name as having reached out to help prior to Dr. Hogan’s appointment as Special Master. Dr. Hogan gave a brief update on his work to date in the conference. Dr. Hogan reported that it is hard to understand exactly how the Department of Mental Health, the Division of Medicaid, the Community Mental Health Centers and the Managed Care Organizations work together and he would like the opportunity to talk to those “on the ground” to better understand this. He also said he would like to talk to “a limited number of advocacy groups” to get the perspective of people receiving services. The State objected to this proposal. Judge Reeves asked the State to submit its objections in writing within ten days and said the United States would then have seven days to submit its written response to the State’s objections. Judge Reeves asked Dr. Hogan and both parties if and how the Special Master and this case are related to the COVID outbreak at East Mississippi State Hospital. All parties agreed on the seriousness of the outbreak but had differing views on its relationship to this case. Judge Reeves also discussed changes in state leadership and whether the work of these policymakers intersects with this case and a potential remedy. He specifically mentioned the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee MPA hopes to obtain a transcript of the conference to share with you so that you can learn the perspectives of each party on the different issues the conference covered. We will also share the State’s written objections to Dr. Hogan’s request and any written response from the United States when they become available. The temporary emergency Medicaid telehealth policy was set to expire 4/30. BCBS aligned with Medicaid and they have extended the expire dates until the end of May 2020 for the time bing. providers have more flexibility with United and Medicare. · MS Medicaid – May 31, 2020 · United Health Care - March 18, 2020 until June 18, 2020 · BCBS of MS – March 16, 2020 to May 31, 2020 · CMS, Starting March 6, 2020 and for the duration of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The DMH Helpline can be reached at 1-877-210-8513 SAMSHSA Disaster Distress Hotline at 1-800-985-5990 Text TalkWithUs to 66746 COVID-19 Data from the MS Dept of Health As of today, the state total of COVID-19 cases is 7, 212 with 397 new cases reported. 281 deaths have been reported in Mississippi. 20 new deaths were confirmed. The counties with the highest number of cases in the state are: Hinds (470) in central MS, Scott in central MS (316) and Lauderdale in eastern MS (349).