June 18, 2025

“The demand for treatment and support services and the acuity of individuals in need have continued to increase over many years while the behavioral healthcare workforce has become smaller due to the difficulty of serving many more people with insufficient fiscal and human resources. Every year, NJAMHAA has met these challenges head on through relentless advocacy and has had a positive impact, despite the difficult financial situations and challenging legislative landscape that we face each year,” said Debra L. Wentz, PhD, President and CEO of NJAMHAA. “FY2025 was certainly no different in our advocacy and impact. However, the year was different with the greater intensity of the ongoing challenges and with new potential obstacles, most notably the possible severe cuts to federal funding for Medicaid and other programs.”

A few examples of NJAMHAA’s successful advocacy on the state and federal levels are:

• Retention in the FY2025 State Budget of $75 million to increase rates and contracts from the previous two years, as well as new increases.
• Extension of parity reimbursement for telehealth services through the end June 2026.
• Agreement from the New Jersey Department of Human Services to require Medicaid rates as the floor for managed care organizations’ rates, and to extend the carve-in transition period a second 90 days (through the end of this month). — “We continue to advocate to further extend the transition to provide additional stability for providers in such an unpredictable environment,” Dr. Wentz stated.
• Funding for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics in the federal government’s continuing resolution that was passed in March of this year.

Click here for details on these and many other advocacy successes in NJAMHAA’s FY2025 Annual Report, Meeting Challenges Head On.