Proposed rules for Medicare’s OPPS and PFS for calendar year 2024 would maintain full Medicare Part B drug payment to hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, revise site-neutral payment policies, and amend price transparency policies, among other changes.

In California and Kentucky, mobile teams can provide Medicaid services to individuals experiencing a behavioral health or substance use crisis.

The proposed rule includes provisions for Medicare reimbursement of telehealth services, quality programs, and social determinants of health data collection.

The Drug Enforcement Administration no longer will require additional registration for prescribers to prescribe buprenorphine.

The association supports HHS' work to align the rule more closely with HIPAA regulations, which will improve care coordination and mitigate discrimination.

A proposed rule will make permanent a temporary policy to allow providers to initiate buprenorphine prescriptions for new patients through telehealth.

The dashboard tracks nonfatal opioid overdoses by state and county and will help service providers target substance use disorder interventions and treatment.

Changes in the proposed rule seek to improve care coordination among providers and increase protections for substance use disorder patients to mitigate discrimination during treatment.

The proposed rule aims to align Part 2 more closely with HIPAA, improve care coordination, and increase anti-discrimination protections for patients with substance use disorder.

The final rule for calendar year 2023 continues certain flexible telehealth policies, overhauls the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and revises the Quality Payment Program.

The rule finalizes the conversion factor and includes reimbursement provisions for telehealth and behavioral health services, the Quality Payment Program, and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Financial, educational, and workplace challenges pose obstacles to recruiting and retaining a diverse behavioral health workforce.

The document is the latest in a series addressing mental health policy challenges and focuses on increased integration, coordination, and access to care. A fifth and final document could be released in coming weeks.

The roadmap implements the three pillars of the President's March 2022 Strategy to Address our National Mental Health Crisis.

A proposed rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for calendar year 2023 would extend telehealth regulatory flexibility, make changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and revise the Quality Payment Program.

CMS proposes to decrease the conversion factor determining physician payment rates for specific services by $1.53. The proposed rule also includes provisions related to Medicare reimbursement of telehealth services, vaccine administration, and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

The agency's strategy to strengthen behavioral health care focuses on improving access, equity, quality, and data integration.

Congress last week passed aid for the Ukraine war effort but remains stalled on a $10 billion COVID-19 funding bill. A group of three House caucuses of Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American lawmakers have introduced health equity legislation.

The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize programs under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Health Resources and Services Administration and is timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month.

Party leaders in the Senate announced a compromise package that would fund $10 billion in COVID-19 relief for therapeutics, vaccines, and pandemic prevention. Meanwhile, a House panel continues work on legislation to aid small businesses.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will ask grant recipients to develop or expand evidence-based services that may include the provision of sterile syringes, safe-sex kits, prevention education, overdose prevention kits, and more. Applications are due Feb. 7, 2022.

A new Department of Health and Human Services report finds the share of Medicare visits conducted via telehealth increased from about 840,000 in 2019 to 52.7 million in 2020. In particular, telehealth was helpful in offsetting potential foregone behavioral health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The letter from America’s Essential Hospitals to the Senate Committee on Finance responded to the panel’s request for information on improving access to and enhancing mental and behavioral health care.

The new strategy from the Department of Health and Human Services expands the scope of crisis response beyond opioids to include other substances often involved in overdoses. It focuses on four priority areas: primary prevention, harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and recovery support.

CMS announces $15 million for state Medicaid agencies to launch mobile crisis intervention services, as authorized by the American Rescue Plan.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy outlines the Biden administration's drug policy priorities for 2021, including expanding access to evidence-based treatment and prevention services, advancing racial equity, reducing supply of illicit substances, and advancing recovery-ready workplaces.

The changes aim to remove barriers to care coordination and allow additional information sharing for providers treating patients with substance use disorder.

The statutorily required report reviews rules and oversight for institutions for mental disease in seven states. Meanwhile, CMS announced it will integrate the psychiatric hospital program survey into its larger survey to determine compliance with Medicare conditions of participation.

The agency announced awardees for two new models that seek to improve care coordination for children and for mothers with opioid use disorder.

CMS also approved a unique behavioral health transformation waiver for the District of Columbia that targets beneficiaries with serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

The 18-month grants, awarded to 15 state Medicaid agencies, seek to increase the ability of providers to deliver substance use disorder treatment and recovery services.

The proposed rules would revise Part 2 provisions to facilitate better care coordination and make technical corrections regarding court-authorized disclosures.

Funding will support the State Opioid Response Grant Program and a cooperative agreement to help state and local governments track overdose data.

Two proposed rules aim to remove barriers to care coordination and facilitate information sharing for providers treating patients with substance use disorders.

As Congress returns from the July Fourth recess, lawmakers focus on legislation to reduce surprise medical bills and prescription drug costs, as well as extend short-term funding for community behavioral health clinics.

Under five-year demonstration projects, these states are approved to receive Medicaid matching funds for treatment in facilities that qualify as institutions for mental diseases.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a $50 million funding opportunity for up to 10 states to aid in treatment and recovery services for individuals with substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder.

In June 3 letters, America's Essential Hospitals encouraged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to consider the regulatory burden that new interoperability requirements would place on essential hospitals.

Revised guidance clarifies what constitutes a ligature risk and outlines a ligature risk extension process for deficient hospitals; comments are due June 17.

A letter circulating in Congress calling for a delay of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment cuts has gained more than 110 bipartisan signatures. The president signed a Medicaid extenders package, which includes a provision identical to the Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act.

The legislation allows states to establish Medicaid health homes to coordinate complex care for children and provides $20 million in additional funding for the "Money Follows the Person" demonstration program, among other provisions.

The House also will mark up a dozen bills aimed at lowering health care and prescription drug costs. House and Senate committees move forward on work to address surprise billing.

Lawmakers have introduced bipartisan legislation to give states additional support for combating the opioid crisis by extending Medicaid's certified community behavioral health clinic demonstration program. Committees remain focused on prescription drug prices.

Maine and Michigan join five other states to receive approval for Medicaid work requirements; unlike most other states, Maine's work requirements will apply to both existing beneficiaries and those newly eligible through expansion.

The 116th session of Congress convenes as leaders seek a deal to end a partial government shutdown, while health care legislation hangs in the balance.

The new guidance recommends that clinicians consider prescribing or coprescribing naloxone to individuals with a high risk of opioid overdose.

Seven new requirements under the National Patient Safety Goals program require hospitals to screen for suicide risk and standardize treatment procedures.

A new demonstration opportunity, which can be carried out through Section 1115 waivers, would allow states to receive reimbursement for services at institutions for mental disease for individuals with serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

The Maternal Opioid Misuse model will last five years and support the integration of clinical care with other services critical for health, well-being, and recovery for pregnant and postpartum Medicaid beneficiaries.

This funding supports initiatives under the agency's Five-Point Opioid Strategy and was distributed in conjunction with Prescription Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data provide a statistical context for the country’s opioid crisis and other behavioral health matters.

The Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model seeks to target physical and behavioral health needs through prevention, early identification, and treatment.

The agency will not convene a proposed task force to reduce environmental risks associated with the care of psychiatric inpatients, opting instead to use findings from The Joint Commission special report on suicide prevention in health care settings.

The decision strikes down the state's overall Section 1115 waiver, which included community engagement and work requirements, but it upholds as a separate waiver a portion allowing Medicaid reimbursement for substance use disorder treatment in institutions for mental disease.

A change brought by passage of the 21st Century Cures Act will ensure coverage for early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services for children under age 21 receiving inpatient psychiatric hospital services.

This year's Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission report focuses on the high cost of prescription drugs and the opioid epidemic.

An informational bulletin outlines the role of Medicaid in the care of infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, while a letter to state Medicaid directors offers guidance on funding Medicaid technology to combat the opioid crisis.

Two new fact sheets clarify the application of privacy regulations under 42 CFR Part 2, a longstanding rule dictating how to share patient data related to substance use disorder.

The grants will be used to establish, expand, and maintain assertive community treatment programs to reduce rates of substance use, homelessness, and criminal justice system involvement among individuals with serious mental illness. Applications are due May 29.

Senate Finance Committee leadership sent a letter to stakeholders requesting information on Medicare and Medicaid policy options that could be used to combat the opioid epidemic.

The designation allows federal health agencies to allocate resources and hire specialists to combat the opioid crisis. The original declaration was set to expire on Jan. 23.

The agency expects to release comprehensive ligature risk interpretive guidance later this year for psychiatric units of acute-care hospitals and psychiatric hospitals.

The new guide will help patients understand their mental and behavioral health, navigate treatment options, and find appropriate services.

Expanded Medicaid access under the Affordable Care Act might have helped patients seek treatment for behavioral health issues, which disproportionately affect low-income populations.

The funds aim to increase the use of medication-assisted treatment, train first responders, and increase access to overdose reversal medications.

In awarding the funds, HHS Secretary Tom Price committed to collaborating with states and seeking their “assistance to identify best practices, lessons learned, and key strategies that produce measurable results.”

President Trump established the commission and ordered it to make final recommendations by Oct. 1; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will serve as chair.

Starting in 2017, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can train to prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Providers approved for a patient limit increase must report on caseload, patients referred to behavioral health care, and their diversion control plan.

Senate appropriators pass HHS spending bill that includes 340B Drug Pricing Program user fee and instructions to HRSA to consider stakeholder input in final mega-guidance.

The new recommendations are based on principles that promote alternative therapies and minimum effective opioid dosage. CDC also released fact sheets and other resources.

Conservative Freedom Caucus opposes GOP budget plan; Senate-passed bill would combat opioid abuse; health committees work on mental health, Medicare improvement.

Telehealth Network Grant Program will award up to 20 grants for a maximum of $300,000 annually to expand services; applications are due April 8.

The guidance, open for a 30-day public comment period, will give providers more clarity on the appropriate use of opioid prescriptions outside of cancer and palliative care; comments are due Jan. 13.

Obama administration proposal would add drug utilization review and restriction program to Medicare to fight opioid overuse.

Tool gives physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals access to geographic comparisons of opioid prescribing habits and use.