U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Pat Tiberi (R-OH) called for more data on Medicare beneficiaries’ mental health on Friday in light of the nation’s opioid epidemic.
Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Tiberi, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, were joined by U.S. Reps. Sander Levin (D-MI), the ranking member of the committee, and Jim McDermott (D-WA), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Health, in calling for the data.
In a letter to acting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Andy Slavitt, the lawmakers called on the agency to collect, analyze and publish more data on the mental and behavioral health of Medicare beneficiaries.
“While CMS has a standard list of chronic conditions used for data releases, the information relating to mental health conditions should be more granular in order to be meaningful,” the lawmakers wrote. “CMS needs to ensure that access to necessary data on America’s seniors is available as necessary to enable providers to best serve them… We strongly recommend that the availability of this data be reexamined in order to coordinate care for mental and behavioral health and to improve the delivery of the health care that our seniors expect and deserve.”
The legislators noted that 26 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experience some kind of mental disorder each year, and that approximately 37 percent of disabled Medicare beneficiaries have a severe mental disorder.
“With the growing opioid epidemic in the U.S., it is important to provide more robust data for analysis,” the lawmakers wrote. “Medicare should make data on substance abuse more widely available while respecting seniors’ privacy. While we understand the concerns with protecting sensitive mental and behavioral health information, the absence of even de-identified behavioral health data negatively impacts initiatives to achieve better care, smarter spending and healthier people throughout our healthcare system.”