Webinar: 2026 Mid-Year Advocacy Update: Funding and Medicaid
- Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
- Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
(see when that is in your time zone)- Presenter: Andrew Kessler
- CE: eligible for 1 CE
- Price: free to attend live: registration required
- Registration: Register for the Webinar
While the year has changed, many of the same priorities for behavioral health policy have not. We remain heavily focused on two major priorities: Medicaid and government grants.
We are staring down two major changes in Medicaid. First, we are awaiting the implementation of last year’s reconciliation package. This could impact who is eligible for Medicaid, as well as the enrollment process. In addition, there could be a severe cut in how much funding is available for Medicaid, depending on your state. Second, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched investigations all over the country, claiming that states are not doing enough to reign it in. Threats have included the withholding of federal reimbursement for Medicaid services, especially for peer providers.
When it comes to grants, the White House has once again recommended the cutting of many behavioral health grants from SAMHSA and the CDC. While the cuts are not severe as last year, they would still be quite impactful if executed. Our advocacy will focus on Congress in hopes they carve their own path forward on grant funding.
This webinar will bring into focus our policy priorities in this very difficult landscape.
Continuing Education Information
This webinar will provide 1 CEU. For more general information about CEs, go here.
CEs will only be available free to those who attend the live webinar. Attendance will be monitored. If you register but do not attend, you can purchase CE access after the webinar is recorded. NBHAP members get it for free.
In order to complete the CE requirements, attendees must complete the online exam. Login access to NBHAP is free regardless of membership. Contact us if you don't have a login.
Sponsor
Slingshot Solutions is one of NBHAP's Associate Members.
They specialize in advocacy for organizations concerned with behavioral health policies and regulations. Whether it’s working with Congress, federal agencies, or coalitions, Slingshot Solutions engages on behalf of its clients to assure their voice is heard when policy is formulated.
Presenter
Andrew Kessler
Andrew Kessler, JD, (he/him) is the founder and principal of Slingshot Solutions LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in behavioral health policy.
With 30 years of policy experience—20 of it in behavioral health—Kessler is a fixture in circles that advocate for substance use disorder treatment, prevention, recovery, and research. He collaborates frequently with congressional offices, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, SAMHSA, and other federal actors. Kessler has written legislation and report language passed by both the House and Senate and has presented orally before such bodies as the Scientific Management Review Board, the National Conference on Addictive Disorders, and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1993 from Washington University in St. Louis. In 1999, he graduated from American University’s Washington College of Law, where he received multiple awards and recognition for his legal analysis and oral arguments. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with his wife, two children, and his beagle.
You can hear him on the 13th episode of our podcast, Destination Change.
Registration
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A national membership association that provides education and advocacy for those in the behavioral health and addiction treatment industries.
We are the leading and unifying voice of addiction-focused treatment programs.
