Medicaid Rates for Autism Therapy on the Rise, But Regulatory Challenges Persist

Medicaid reimbursement rates are largely trending upward for autism therapy providers, but burdensome regulations still pose significant hurdles to growth.  To overcome these challenges and improve rates, all players in the autism therapy industry, including private equity firms, must become involved in advocacy work, industry insiders said at the Behavioral Health Business Autism & Addiction […]

Universal Health Services Looking to Get Behavioral Health Margins Back to Pre-COVID Levels

Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS) is looking to get its behavioral health margins back to pre-COVID times. Reductions in labor costs, enhanced productivity and a bump in patient volume are among the factors that will support that goal, according to Steve Filton, the company’s chief financial officer. “We had originally set a target for [2024] […]

Wit v. United Behavioral Health Proves the Courts Are the Wrong Place to Reform Health Plan Oversight

Don’t give up hope just yet on the parity fight in the courts following the latest development in Wit v. United Behavioral Health. But don’t forget this: No shortage of the collective troubles of the American political and business worlds come from expecting the courts to see things a certain way. If behavioral health care wants […]

Appeals Court Orders Judge Over Wit v. United Behavioral Health to Comply with Previous Rulings

The district court judge over Wit v. United Behavioral Health has been ordered by the appeals court to come into compliance with its previous orders. The order, in addition to calling on the judge over the case to comply with previous rulings, puts to bed questions about reprocessing allegedly wrongfully denied claims. Once seen as […]

Shared Savings in Behavioral Health: A Realistic Approach to Value-Based Care

Fee-for-service reimbursement models incentivize behavioral health providers to deliver more services – in some instances, even when medically unnecessary, some would point out. Value-based care – paying for quality and outcomes instead of volume – has been heralded as the behavioral health industry’s path away from fee-for-service models. Challenges, including tension between health plans and […]

‘Nobody Is Going to Fight Getting a Child Treated’: Payers More Open to Covering TMS

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is becoming a more viable option for the treatment of depression in youth and adults, providing hope for those with treatment-resistant depression.  Of the roughly 22 million American adults who experienced a major depressive episode in 2023, about 30% have treatment-resistant depression, meaning that multiple medications have failed to alleviate their […]

How Addiction Providers Are Integrating Services for Co-Occurring Conditions

Many behavioral health providers have traditionally operated in silos, leaving patients to navigate a fragmented system of care for substance use disorders (SUDs), mental illnesses and other co-occurring conditions.  SUD providers are now working to break down these barriers and offer more comprehensive, holistic treatments that address the full spectrum of a patient’s needs by […]

Group Therapy Could Solve Behavioral Health Access Crisis, Cut Down on Spend

The behavioral health industry is constantly seeking to bolster its clinician supply to meet raging levels of unmet mental health needs. Access to care could improve significantly if more providers offered group therapy. Group therapy is a rare behavioral health modality that promises benefits under both value-based care and fee-for-service reimbursement models, largely due to […]

CMS Targets Psychiatry Shortage With Final Rule

America continues to grapple with a persistent behavioral health workforce crisis, with just over a quarter of the national mental health needs met. The situation is particularly dire in psychiatry, with projections estimating a 20% decline in the number of adult psychiatrists by 2030, even as demand continues to rise.   The U.S. Department of Health […]

Outpatient Care Takes Center Stage in PE-Backed Mental Health Investments

Industry insiders anticipate that health care private equity deal activity will increase in the second half of 2024. In the behavioral health sector, sluggish deal flow could be picking up. Several notable transactions have crossed the finish line as investors increasingly focus on outpatient care rather than full continuum care, according to a new report […]