Insurance Barriers, Provider Scarcity Limits Patient Access to Psychologists

The shortage of psychologists accepting insurance, combined with full caseloads and high demand, has made mental health care increasingly difficult to access. According to a new report by the American Psychological Association, roughly a third of psychologists do not accept insurance. Among those who accept insurance, private and commercial pay health plans were the most […]

Bipartisan Bill Would Expand Behavioral Telehealth Services For Rural Americans

Rural residents often face obstacles in finding health care resources. Many access mental health care via their primary care providers rather than behavioral health clinicians.  A new bipartisan bill, titled the Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act, aims to increase rural residents’ access to virtual mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services by authorizing […]

Psychologists Face Rising Stress and Burnout As Patients’ Symptoms Worsen

Growing proportions of psychologists are planning to decrease their practice hours, possibly due to high-stress levels and increasingly high-acuity patients. According to a new survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), psychologists are increasingly treating patients with severe symptoms that need longer treatment plans. Psychologists are, therefore, strained with higher workloads and more than […]

Schools Poised to Anchor Youth Mental Health Services — Reimbursement, Privacy Concerns Pose Barrier

American K-12 schools could be the epicenter of an accelerating effort to address the youth mental health crisis. Lawmakers, advocates and entrepreneurs see schools as the best place to center addressing the youth mental crisis because that’s where kids are for major portions of any given day for most of the year. The American compulsory […]

Congress Must Invest and Support Evidence-Based Integrated Behavioral Health Care Models

The number of people who suffer from mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs) is reaching crisis levels, and experts are calling on Congress to support diverse payment models that integrate traditional health care with behavioral health. Investing in evidence-based integrated primary and behavioral health care across multiple models would help, according to Mitch Prinstein […]

Groups Urge Biden Administration to Exempt Mental Health From No Surprises Act

The American Psychological Association and 10 other organizations want the Biden administration to exempt mental and behavioral health providers from price transparency and anti-surprise billing rules announced last year. The letter states, in part, that the rules that require health care providers to provide good-faith cost estimates at the outset of a care interaction impose […]

U.S. at Turning Point in Youth Mental Health Crisis, APA Calls for $1B Boost in Funding from Congress

American Psychological Association Chief Science Officer Mitch Prinstein believes that the U.S. is at a turning point in how it deals with the imbalance between mental and physical health — an imbalance made worse by the COVID pandemic. He likened this turning point to the era following World War II when the federal government created […]

Inequality Inspired Black Exec to Open SUD Clinic — But More Federal Help Needed to Generate Widespread Results

As overdose deaths have spiked amid the pandemic, Congress has authorized billions of dollars in the fight against substance use disorder (SUD). While the funding has been lauded by many for its potential to improve treatment access, others argue the federal government still hasn’t done enough to help the minority communities hardest hit by SUDs. […]

APA Calls on Congress to Enforce, Strengthen Behavioral Health Parity Laws

The American Psychological Association (APA) is calling on Congress to enforce and improve the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), arguing that the legislation’s long-time shortcomings have become even more clear amid the pandemic.  MHPAEA has been the law of the land since 2008. It mandates that employers offer mental health coverage that’s […]

American Psychological Association Urges States, Insurers to Remove Telehealth Roadblocks During COVID-19 Crisis

The American Psychological Association (APA) is asking states and insurers to temporarily remove roadblocks that make it harder for mental health providers to offer telehealth services. Doing so is especially important in light of COVID-19, the APA says. “This is an extraordinary public health crisis with vast and unpredictable implications for the nation’s mental health,” […]