FY2025-Annual-Report

10 Meeting Challenges Head On Legislative, Policy and Regulatory Advocacy In FY2025, NJAMHAA also had many policy wins of great impact to support the life-saving work of our members. Our advocacy efforts have been boosted by the purchase of new software that easily allows members to participate in email and phone call campaigns to legislators and other policymakers. We appreciate the great participation of our members in these efforts! Among the successes NJAMHAA realized this fiscal year was the new facility licensing process from the Department of Health. Now, when an organization submits a fully completed application, it will be immediately assigned to a reviewer, who will reach out to schedule a date for review with all agency-relevant parties. Issues with an application can be resolved during this meeting, and, if fully addressed, an inspection can then be scheduled. If more time is needed to address an issue, the inspection will be scheduled whenever the necessary work is complete. For license renewals, only attestations and payments are required. For expanding services, inspections are required, in addition to attestations and payments. It is anticipated that these new processes will eliminate the back-and-forth emails and duplicate submissions of documents, and significantly reduce the very long waits for licenses that members have experienced. One very significant legislative win was the extension of parity reimbursement for telehealth services for 18 months until June 30, 2026. NJAMHAA’s advocacy for the parity reimbursement provision, which ensures telehealth services are reimbursed at the same rate as in- person services, was first successful in the December 2021 telehealth statute. NJAMHAA had a significant impact on this major rewrite of the law, having also secured permanency for the provisions allowing both clients and providers to be at any location, and coverage of audio-only services. The parity reimbursement provision was set to initially expire in December 2023, at which time a one-year extension was passed. Once again set to expire at year’s end in 2024, the latest extension for 18 months moves the expiration date to June 30th of 2026. In the annual push to get a budget done by the same date, deliberation and processing of our request for permanency may be difficult – but it is a challenge we will meet head on! “ NJAMHAA has been a great partner with us by providing training and legislative advocacy alerts. I absolutely love the tenacity this organization brings in its advocacy to legislators and policymakers. ” Kathy White-Thomas, MS Chief Operating Officer Volunteers of America-Delaware Valley Advocacy Enhancement: Added new software for easy member participation in campaigns and response to alerts. Streamlined Licensing: Succeeded in having the Department of Health introduce a streamlined process that is reducing wait times and simplifying renewals and expansions. Telehealth Parity Extension: Achieved extended parity reimbursement for telehealth services until June 30, 2026, ensuring these services are reimbursed at the same rate as in-person services.