Policy

Former Vice President Joe Biden appears to have won the presidential election, but behavioral healthcare leaders say significant changes for the field could depend on the results of still-undecided Senate races.

Former U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad of Minnesota, a longtime advocate for addiction treatment and parity, is credited as a driving force behind the passage of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

The establishment of an emergency line specifically for mental health crises and the introduction of legislation that would put emergency responses to such situations in the hands of behavioral health professionals instead of law enforcement are among the efforts to reshape our crisis response.

Preventing and addressing adverse childhood experiences, creating recovery-friendly workplaces, and being adaptable to meet the challenges presented by COVID-19 were among the topics discussed at a recent National Council on Behavioral Health event.

The California Department of Health Care Services has announced that $20 million in funding will be awarded to two-thirds of hospitals in the state to provide opioid and substance use disorder treatment services.

Issues around in-person reopenings, insurance dynamics and staff turnover are among the factors playing a role in the current state of behavioral health.

State, county and local government financial shortfalls are reaching dangerous levels as these entities continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With providers feeling a financial impact from COVID-19, a push for a $100 billion federal investment in addiction prevention, treatment and recovery services tops National Council’s action plan.

The Mental Health Liaison Group has asked CMS that the flexibilities around telehealth it enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic be extended one year after the emergency period is declared over to evaluate the potential for certain changes to become permanent.

It is ironic that deinstitutionalization from state psychiatric hospitals and decarceration from city and county jails—major objectives long sought by the behavioral health community—have turned into significant problems in the COVID-19 era.