A Year of Momentum
Authored by: The BD SUMHAC Team
BD SUMHAC’s 2025 Impact
As 2025 has come to a close, we’re reflecting on what’s possible when a community comes together with purpose. Since launching this work, BD SUMHAC has convened 196 advocacy meetings, delivered 90 education sessions, grown to 74 coalition members, and engaged partners in 40 states.
The year was marked by meaningful progress, deepening partnerships, and expanding impact across the country. Together, we continued to move the needle on access to mental health and substance use treatment for people with bleeding disorders through policy advocacy, education, and collaboration.
In this update, we’re highlighting key milestones, sharing recent advocacy developments, and celebrating the people and partnerships driving this work forward. At its core, this work is about turning barriers into pathways – and ensuring no one has to choose between bleeding disorder care and behavioral health care.
Read on to see what we’ve been working on and how you can be part of what comes next.
In 2025, Michigan took an important step forward by releasing draft updates to its substance use disorder and inpatient psychiatric facility regulations that incorporate BD SUMHAC-recommended language – an encouraging milestone in a longer advocacy journey.
In Texas, BD SUMHAC worked closely with Senator Molly Cook to draft and introduce Texas Senate Bill 2769, aimed at improving access to inpatient psychiatric care for people with bleeding disorders. To support this effort, the Texas State Advocacy team held 62 advocacy meetings educating lawmakers, strengthening relationships, and laying the groundwork for future legislative change.
In 2025, BD SUMHAC continued to grow and strengthen its State Advocacy Program. We welcomed three new states — California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — while continuing active advocacy efforts in North Carolina, Michigan, and Texas. Together, these state teams are helping drive policy reform, provider education, and facility engagement at the local level.
Across participating states, advocacy teams educated nine behavioral health facilities, all of which expressed interest in working with our community and a willingness to accept individuals with bleeding disorders — an important step toward expanding real-world access to care.
Beyond bleeding disorders, BD SUMHAC also partnered with national health organizations to address shared barriers to behavioral health treatment. These collaborations resulted in a joint statement of support, reinforcing the importance of individualized, inclusive access to care.
The year brought major updates to BD SUMHAC’s Provider Toolkit and Access Toolkit, making them more streamlined, easier to navigate, and packed with new behavioral health access resources.
We also conducted a 2025 HTC Provider Survey, with results showing measurable improvements in access since 2022 — an encouraging sign that advocacy and education are making a difference.
Our website is now available in Spanish and features a new live tracker showcasing advocacy and education meetings, coalition growth, and ongoing momentum in real time.
BD SUMHAC presented at the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation National Bleeding Disorders Conference, highlighting barriers to behavioral health treatment and practical resources to improve access.
BD SUMHAC Chair Kate Bazinsky also helped elevate these issues nationally through podcast appearances, including:
Beyond the Bleeds (Parts I & II)
Boundless B – Breaking the Barrier: Mental Health and Substance Use Access in the Bleeding Disorders Community
BD SUMHAC also partnered closely with NBDF’s new Senior Director of Patient Access, Aaron Blocker, to expand advocacy support for individuals seeking inpatient and residential behavioral health treatment.
In most cases, the primary barrier is that the facility has the discretion to pick and choose who they would like to admit. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 are supposed to protect the bleeding disorders community from discrimination on the basis of disability, if the facility states “medical complexity” as the reason for denial, the denial is not considered discriminatory. While BD SUMHAC’s policy wins will make it easier for people with bleeding disorders and their providers to be effective advocates, the need for advocacy will continue indefinitely.
We need to keep educating facilities on the inequity of these denials and the resources available to help educate facilities on how to safely provide care for patients with bleeding disorders.
None of this progress would be possible without the collective commitment, generosity, and perseverance of the people and organizations who power BD SUMHAC’s work. We are deeply grateful to our coalition members, state advocacy teams, and partners across the country who continue to show up, speak out, and push for meaningful change.
We are thankful to the New England Hemophilia Association (NEHA) for serving as BD SUMHAC’s fiscal agent and for its steady partnership and support. We especially appreciate the collaboration of Rich Pezzillo, whose leadership has helped ensure this work can continue to grow and evolve.
We extend heartfelt appreciation to Kayla Cody-Lushozi, MSW, BD SUMHAC’s Advocacy Coordinator. Kayla’s leadership, thoughtfulness, and tireless coordination were instrumental to all of the state advocacy work this year. Her dedication, insight, and care for this community continue to elevate BD SUMHAC’s impact.
We are also grateful to Shanthi Hegde, an MPH student at Brown University, who interned with BD SUMHAC this year. Shanthi did extraordinary work supporting our facility outreach and education program, making 537 outreach calls to behavioral health facilities on behalf of our state advocacy teams. Her persistence, professionalism, and commitment made a measurable difference.
This work would not be possible without the generosity of our financial supporters, and we are deeply thankful for the support of Takeda, Sanofi, Genentech, and Bayer.
We also extend our sincere thanks to our national partners, including the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation (NBDF), the Hemophilia Federation of America (HFA), the Coalition for Hemophilia B, VWD Connect, and the many bleeding disorder chapters across the country who have championed this work in their communities.
Together, this network of advocates, providers, partners, and supporters is driving real progress — and helping ensure that people with bleeding disorders can access the behavioral health care they need, when and where they need it.
Thank you, Sanofi, for your support!
Your contributions are making a difference for the bleeding disorders community. We’re grateful for your partnership!