News

Beginning today, September 25, 2023, any household in the U.S. can again order four free COVID-19 tests from Covidtests.gov. The reopening of Covidtests.gov was announced last week by the Biden Administration, in addition to a $600 million investment across 12 domestic COVID-19 test manuf...

Yesterday, September 21, 2023, the United States House of Representatives failed to pass a procedural vote that would have begun debate on a defense funding bill by a measure of 212 in favor and 216 opposed. The defense funding bill would have limited access to abortion services for servi...

Addiction Professionals Day, part of National Recovery Month, was established in 1992 by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, to show appreciation for the important work of addiction professionals who provide clinical counseling and support to those affected by substance u...

September 19, 2023 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that, as directed in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a new Medicare benefit category will be established for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) and Mental Health Counselors (MHCs) for s...

This week, September 10 through 16, 2023, is observed as Suicide Prevention Week, taking place within National Recovery Month. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a proclamation officially declaring Sept. 10 - 16, 2023, as Suicide Prevention Week. In the Governor's proclamatio...

September 12, 2023 On Friday, September 8, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy swore in New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha L. Way, JD, as Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, just over a month after the passing of Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver. Way's appointment became effective immediate...

September 11, 2023 On September 7, 2023, Stockton University's William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy published research analyzing the wide-ranging impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on New Jersey residents' mental health, treatment, and outcomes, involving numerous mental health is...

September 7, 2023 In the week of August 20 to August 26, 2023, COVID-19 hospitalizations across the U.S. have increased by 15.7% compared to the prior week , with a 17.6% increase in COVID-19 deaths across the same time, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Pr...

August 31, 2023 As signed into law under the Inflation Reduction Act, over the next four years, Medicaid will negotiate prices for up to 60 drugs covered under Medicare Part D and Part B, and up to an additional 20 drugs every year...

August 29, 2023 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Homeless & Housing Resource Center (HHRC) has shared a fact sheet on Xylazine basics, providing information on overdose prevention, harm reduction, wound care, and more Xylazine, also know...

August 24, 2023 The New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) has shared a notice of the CVS Health Foundation issuing a call for applications for its 2023 Centering Youth Mental Health grant program. The Centering Youth Mental Health grant program is a multi-year phila...

NJCounts is the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in New Jersey, required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), directed by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and managed by Monarch Hou...

August 10, 2023 On Wednesday, August 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner Sarah Adelman announced the launch of StopOverdoses.nj.gov, a resource for New Jersey residents to locate pharmacies providing naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal agent, free...

August 3, 2023 On Monday, July 31, 2023, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) initiated a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, alleging that the healthcare provider improperly denied thousands of patients' payments for emergency room services and urinary drug screenings. The...

July 27, 2023 On July 25, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy announced his intention to nominate Kaitlan Baston, MD, MSc, DFASAM, as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH). Dr. Baston will assume the role in August of this year, following the recently announced upcomin...

July 25, 2023 On July 24th, the Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) and Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) hosted a kick-off of the behavioral health carve-in implementation, which will take place over th...

July 24, 2023 Judith Persichilli, who has served as the New Jersey State Health Commissioner since August 5, 2019, will retire next month, as reported by NJ Advance Media, published in the July 21st edition of The Star Ledger. Her tenure included supervising New Jersey's response to...

Yesterday, NJAMHAA staff and several partners testified before the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund Advisory Council, reinforcing the need for education and increased access to the full continuum of prevention, harm reduction and treatment services, as well as a statewide health infor...

Nationwide, there is an estimated shortage of nearly 4.5 million behavioral health providers to meet the level of need, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Behavioral Health Workforce Report, 2020. This dearth in the behavioral health wo...

Judith Persichilli, who has served as the New Jersey State Health Commissioner since August 5, 2019, will retire next month, as reported by NJ Advance Media, published in today's edition of The Star Ledger. Her tenure included supervising New Jersey's response to the COVID-19 pandemic...