2026-advocacy-piece

5 Ensure Fiscal Sustainability for New Jersey’s Behavioral Health Services At this time of current and impending federal policy changes and funding cuts, it is more important than ever for New Jersey to apply every resource available to support access to quality mental health and substance use treatment and supports. Behavioral health programs across the continuum of care are in dire straits, with many facing decisions about reductions or closure. Providers just cannot continue to fill the fiscal gaps left by inadequate reimbursement, and they certainly cannot maintain a qualified workforce with current rates and contract levels. Across-the-board increases on rates and contracts are a need that absolutely must be met to keep the current network in place. New Jersey has seen success in recent years in reducing both overdose deaths and suicides. Preliminary data for the 12-month period ending in April 2025 shows a 30% decrease in fatal overdoses compared to the preceding 12-month period. Tragically, we still lost 1,799 lives to overdoses between April 2024 and April 2025 – but for the first time in nearly a decade, the number was fewer than 2,000. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Jersey’s suicide rate per 100,000 population dropped from a high of 8.3 in 2018 to 7.2 in 2023, the lowest in the nation. 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 New Jersey Overdose Deaths 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2938 2924 3111 2996 2590 1799 Data is for the 12-month period ending in April of each year. Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics New Jersey’s budget must reflect that it truly values mental health and substance use treatment, support and recovery services that provide positive outcomes for those individuals in need by investing significantly to sustain and expand these critical, life-altering and life-saving services. New Jersey’s behavioral health services improve quality of life. Recognizing that New Jersey’s budgets are restrained by decreased revenues, NJAMHAA is recommending an initial FY2026 investment of $54 million (state funds) to provide a 10% across-the-board increase to rates and contracts. Such an investment would be matched by $21 million in federal funds, for a total investment of $75 million, with this increase recurring in FY2027. This amount reflects the minimum investment needed to sustain behavioral healthcare providers, with additional increases needed in subsequent years to fully cover the costs incurred for the services they are contracted to deliver. Beyond literally saving lives, New Jersey’s behavioral health services — which go beyond mental health and substance use treatment to include case management, peer support, and services to address social determinants of health, such as housing, nutrition, and employment and education services — improve the quality of life for individuals in dramatic ways.