Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been confirmed as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Senate confirmed Kennedy on Thursday in a 52 to 48 vote, mostly along party lines. In his new role, Kennedy will direct $1.7 trillion in federal funds, including those that pay for government health insurance […]
Colorado is a step closer to building a foundation for mental health parity. This move codifies federal parity regulation at a state level. On Feb. 10, the Colorado House of Representatives bipartisanly voted 54-9 to approve HB25-1002. The bill would require health plans to make judgments about the appropriateness of care based on guidance created […]
This is an exclusive BHB+ story New presidents regularly shift focuses and funding streams when entering office. The Trump administration has done so in an unprecedented manner. A slew of executive orders, including a confusing and then retracted funding freeze order, and Medicaid portal issues created chaos last week. While the funding freeze was retracted, […]
This is an exclusive BHB+ story A health insurance industry group has sued the Trump administration with the hope of undoing the latest parity-enforcement rule. Filed Jan. 17., the suit argues that the Biden administration’s rule oversteps what current parity law actually allows, violates health plans’ due process rights and runs afoul of federal rulemaking […]
Behavioral health providers have faced regulatory uncertainty regarding government funding and access to Medicaid this week. The Trump administration issued a funding freeze on Monday only for it to be blocked by a federal judge on Tuesday. States reported outages to the Medicaid portal on Tuesday and more interruptions on Wednesday, while the White House […]
This is an exclusive BHB+ story The long-awaited special registration rule for telehealth prescribing dropped last week. The proposed rule has already raised some hackles with industry insiders, and the newly installed Trump administration has promptly withdrawn the proposal. Withdrawing the proposal doesn’t mean the rule is dead. After review, the Trump administration may allow […]
Substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers who prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) via telehealth received some good news on Wednesday. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a final rule that allows clinicians to prescribe buprenorphine via telehealth or audio-only telehealth visits for up to […]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued a substance use disorder (SUD) treatment provider for posing as other providers to get increased business. Florida-based Evoke Wellness allegedly used deceptive Google search ads that appeared to represent other SUD providers, using its competitors’ names as keywords and displaying ads in a way that impersonated other clinics, […]
A California lawmaker has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that they describe as “comprehensive legislation to help tackle our nation’s mental health crisis.” Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier has reintroduced the “Mental Health Matters Act,” a bill he ran in 2022 and cleared the House on a 220-to-205 vote two years ago, […]
State Medicaid programs are federally required to cover applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for children with autism. In 2020, the state of Indiana’s fee-for-service Medicaid payments totaled $101.8 million, the second highest in the U.S. An audit completed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the United States Department of Health and Human Services […]
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