Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is suing CleanSlate Centers for allegedly defrauding the state Medicaid program out of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, the national addiction treatment center chain says the allegations are meritless. The lawsuit asserts that CleanSlate submitted millions of dollars worth of false claims for unnecessary urine drug tests to MassHealth. On top of […]
Category: Regulation
It’s official: The nation suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline number will be shortened to three digits. The news comes after President Donald Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act into law on Oct. 17. The legislation simplifies the emergency hotline number from ten digits to three: 988. The goal is to make […]
Behavioral health providers have been navigating uncharted territory for seven months and counting. Given the upcoming election and the persistence of the COVID-19 emergency, that uncertainty is likely to continue in the months to come. While there’s no way for providers to know exactly what the future holds, there are a few actions they can […]
People with severe mental illnesses (SMIs) often end up homeless, hospitalized or incarcerated. To change that, federal and commercial payers need to reimagine the way they reimburse for the treatment of SMIs, behavioral health stakeholders say. “Our mental health care payment system is really not geared toward people with serious mental illness,” psychiatrist and documentarian […]
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to improve behavioral health and prevent suicide in America. It blames COVID-19-related shutdowns for worsening Americans’ mental health. The executive order, signed Monday, establishes a cabinet-level working group to assess the mental health needs of America’s most vulnerable citizens. That includes elderly adults, minorities, children, veterans […]
Certain behavioral health providers who were previously ineligible to receive federal funding to help offset the financial impacts of COVID-19 are now allowed to apply for financial relief. Those who have already received payments may also be eligible to apply for additional funding. The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced the next phase […]
The House of Representatives has passed a bill designed to improve and enhance suicide screenings in emergency departments. If signed into law, it would set aside funding to help hospitals improve suicide protocols. The Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act (HR 4861) aims to help medical professionals working in emergency departments identify, […]
California has passed a law to improve residents’ access to behavioral health care coverage. It’s a move that could set the stage for nationwide change. The law in question defines “medical necessity” for mental health and substance use disorder treatment, no longer leaving it up to insurance companies to create their own definitions. California Gov. […]
The national suicide prevention hotline number is one step closer to being shortened to three digits. To make it happen, all that’s needed now is a signature from President Donald Trump. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act on Monday. The legislation aims to shorten the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline […]
The coronavirus has changed the face of medication-assisted treatment (MAT), in many ways, for the better. Virus-related flexibilities have made it easier for patients to get medication, attend therapy sessions and avoid the stigma often associated with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. While it’s unclear what the SUD landscape will look like in the future, […]
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