The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule could expand behavioral health coverage, boost care coordination and increase rates for providers. Specifically, the proposed changes would allow marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and mental health counselors (MHCs), including substance use disorder counselors, to enroll in Medicare and bill for […]
Category: Regulation
Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. (Nasdaq: ACHC) faces an enormous jury award in a civil case involving the sexual abuse of a child. On July 7, a jury in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, awarded the child, known only as G.S., and her guardians $485 million in damages. Acadia Healthcare and its affiliate, the now-defunct Youth […]
Behavioral health providers continue to face headaches while trying to get new facilities through local zoning processes. The American drug overdose crisis and the wide-reaching impacts of a once-in-a-generation pandemic have shredded the pretense that any given community doesn’t need behavioral health care. Despite this reality, prejudice against those with behavioral health issues, especially substance […]
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is lobbying Congress to address several systemic behavioral health issues. AHA requests that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce consider several actions in addition to renewing the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act of 2018 (SUPPORT Act). In a letter sent […]
Years into a national behavioral health workforce shortage, many provider organizations are now seeking to leverage peer specialists. Advocates argue that peers could be a crucial part of expanding behavioral health access and supporting patients holistically in their recovery. Yet reimbursement challenges and varying state licensure requirements have historically created barriers for providers utilizing the […]
A group of U.S. senators have re-introduced a piece of legislation aimed at helping schools team up with local mental health providers to provide students with on-site services. The legislation, dubbed the Mental Health Services for Students Act, would provide $300 million in funding to education agencies, tribal schools and community-based organizations to help foster […]
Lawmakers are looking at ways to put community resources at the center of the mental health crisis. Wednesday, the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement held a hearing focused on closing the gaps in behavioral health care by bringing services and prevention into the community. Provider witnesses stressed the importance of care integration and […]
The Biden administration announced Thursday several additional efforts to address behavioral health industry challenges. Among new efforts, the White House said it would release the “National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification.” Departments within the executive branch also announced steps to make it easier for schools to bill Medicaid for services. “The new standards are […]
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced legislation that would make it easier for Medicare beneficiaries to access virtual behavioral health services. The Telemental Health Care Access Act, if passed into law, would eliminate the requirement for doctors to see a Medicare beneficiary in-person within six months of being treated virtually for a behavioral health […]
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a temporary rule extending COVID-era telehealth flexibilities from the end of the public health emergency (PHE) on May 11 to Nov. 11, 2023. The extension allows clinicians prescribing controlled substances over telehealth to continue to do so for another six months. Patients that initiate care on or before Nov. […]
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