A federal judge reeled back regulations prohibiting health care providers’ use of third-party tracking technologies, a move that has previously embroiled behavioral health providers. The ruling concluded that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) bulletin establishing guidance on potential privacy concerns “went too far.” The American Hospital Association (AHA) and three other […]
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
New government findings add details to the lack of availability of behavioral health services for America’s poor and elderly. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department found that about one-third of behavioral health providers in selected counties serve patients in the Medicare, Medicare Advantage, or Medicaid programs. “Despite […]
Want to read more content like this? Subscribe to Addiction Treatment Business today! The newly finalized 42 CFR Part 2 rule, focused on the privacy rights of patients seeking addiction treatment care, creates new opportunities and risks for behavioral health providers. The federal government released the finalized rule at the beginning of the month. It’s intended to […]
Substance use disorder (SUD) providers will soon be subject to new, strengthened confidentiality protections. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a final rule that modifies patient record regulations to bolster confidentiality requirements and ease the integration of behavioral health information with other medical records. The new rule overhauls the confidentiality protections […]
The Biden Administration introduced a new proposed rule focused on strengthening mental health parity regulations. Specifically, the proposal sets out to clarify health plan’s requirements for nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTL) comparative analyses and network composition. NQTL are health plan practices that are not associated with specific numbers but still have an influence on whether and […]
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators asked the Biden administration to tweak its proposed rule focused on addiction treatment privacy to better align with a law meant to prevent opioids from being prescribed to those in recovery. On Tuesday, the senators sent an open letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) […]
The Biden administration has unveiled a new proposed rule that would make it easier to coordinate the care of those with a substance use disorder. On Monday, the civil rights office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, along with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), posted a […]
Millions more vulnerable Americans have access to behavioral health services because of a temporary federal edict that helped people get and keep Medicaid coverage. But the days of that edict — the public health emergency — are numbered, putting millions at risk of losing Medicaid and access to health care services. A dramatic administrative change […]
Some leaders in the virtual medication-assisted treatment (MAT) space see the opportune regulatory environment of the moment continuing post-COVID. However, virtual MAT providers were disappointed in the past by a regulatory flub at the federal level that could have secured them key flexibilities, leaving them to at least think about what might happen if current […]
Three cabinet-level federal departments found that health plans are failing to ensure mental health parity in their benefit plans. The U.S. Labor Department, Health and Human Services Department and Department of the Treasury issued a 54-page report today spelling out how group health plans or health insurance issuers have fallen short of their legal obligations […]