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Welcome to The Census, your weekly roundup of what matters in behavioral health care.

Today, we’re breaking down:

• The latest attempt at enforcing mental health care parity 

• Your latest news headlines in under two minutes

Let’s dive in.

- Shân

P.S. DeepWell got FDA clearance for its games that treat mental health issues — significant, given CMS’s recent proposal to start reimbursing digital therapeutics. Link to the full story under Latest news.

Reading time: ~4 minutes.

On our radar

What we’re watching this week 

🧠 The latest call for coverage parity 

On Monday, the Biden administration took new steps to (really) make insurers cover mental health on a par with physical health.

As we all know, America is an expensive place to need behavioral health support. Even if you’re insured.

Adults with private coverage who were treated for anxiety or depression in 2021 spent an average of ~$1k a year out of pocket on health costs — nearly twice as much as adults without mental health diagnoses.

This is despite most health insurers being required under a 2008 law to keep mental health benefits at the same level as physical health benefits. Providers, and even the Department of Labor, say payers sidestep the rules.

On Monday, a new policy was laid out to:

• Reiterate that health plans must analyze their provider networks, prior authorization policies, and out-of-network payment rates and come into compliance with the parity law if they’re falling short

• Require 200 non-federal governmental health plans to comply with the 2008 law for the first time

Most provisions will go into effect in January next year — if they aren’t scrapped by a future administration. 

Still, the new requirements won’t change the fact that most Americans live in areas without enough behavioral health professionals to meet their needs.

And insurers have said that as proposed, the new requirements would be unworkable amid the shortage of providers. Go deeper here and here.

Let’s get to your news headlines.

Catch up quick

This week’s top stories

Latest news

🫄Mental health disorders in pregnant women rose by 53% and SUDs by 8% from 2020-2023, according to a new FAIR health study.

🤯 Multiple autism clinics have been linked to a huge child nutrition program fraud case in Minnesota.

⚠️ 73% of sampled opioid treatment programs in Massachusetts fall short of federal and state requirements.

💡 PHPs and IOPs, along with age-specific care, are still an “afterthought” among the major healthcare payers, says BasePoint’s founder.

🎮 DeepWell got FDA clearance for its games that treat mental health issues — significant, given CMS’s recent proposal to start reimbursing digital therapeutics.

🐟 Research links prenatal fish intake, but not omega-3 supplements, to a reduced chance of autism (unsurprising, given ~45% of omega supplements are rancid). 

😳 An Oregon hospital is being sued for $303M after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips.

📈 Medicaid reimbursement rates are trending upward for autism therapy providers — but regulations still pose significant hurdles to growth. 

😞 Nearly 25% of overdose deaths had a chance for intervention, according to new data from the CDC.

🚨 The DEA is leaning toward putting strict limits on telehealth prescribing — which would severely inhibit the ability of behavioral health operators to extend access to virtual care.

🧑‍⚖️ The Chevron decision, which curtails federal agencies’ power to interpret ambiguous laws, potentially unravels years of hard-won progress, experts say.

👀 In some hopeful policy news, a new bill in Congress may chip away at the Medicaid institution for mental diseases exclusion for those with SUD.

📊 Universal Health Services plans to get its behavioral health margins back to pre-COVID levels via reductions in labor costs and enhanced productivity.

🚭 Fewer American kids are puffing on vapes, but more have turned to nicotine pouches, a new survey shows.

💉 A fentanyl vaccine, which would prevent the opioid from entering the brain, is set for clinical trials starting in mid-2025.

👋 Humana plans to leave 13 Medicare Advantage markets next year and scale back plan offerings in other areas.

💊 Democrats and Republicans say methadone can end the fentanyl epidemic — but methadone clinics say that’s naive.

🧑‍⚕️ Continued worker burnout and more demand for care will drive health care workforce shortages into 2028, a Mercer study says — with New York experiencing the biggest shortage. 

💻 Behavioral health providers in New Jersey can now access funding to help them deploy or upgrade electronic health record technology. 

🧠 The DEA has allowed a ~24% increase in Vyvanse production to help with America’s ADHD drug shortage. 

🚓 San Francisco is deporting migrants in an attempt to fight the fentanyl crisis as human and economic pain from the drug mounts.

👉 The state of Mississippi is suing drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers, alleging that opioids were over-prescribed.

🗺️ Elevance is expanding ACA plans in Florida, Texas, & Maryland for 2025 — likely in a bid to capture those who recently lost Medicaid coverage.

🏈 Philadelphia mental health therapists are bracing for more cases of stress and anxiety as Eagles fans’ moods swing with the fortunes of the NFL team.

Expansions, launches, & partnerships

🎉 Recovery First Treatment Center in Florida launched a virtual evening IOP, available in both English and Spanish.

🍔 EDCare, an eating disorder treatment provider, expanded its Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program in Denver with a $1M+ investment.

🏫 Greenspace Health partnered with Frederick County public schools to launch Basecamp, a population health solution to support student mental health.

🤝 Charlie Health teamed up with Cartwheel to help combat the mental health crisis affecting American students.

📝 Family Care Center announced the Family Care Center Functionality Scale to measure real-life functionality in patients with behavioral health conditions.

Funding rounds & investor moves

🤖 MyndYou, an AI analytics platform aiding care providers and therapists in tracking and treating cognitive changes, raised an undisclosed amount.

🤑 Kipu Health acquired Hatch Compliance, a compliance and risk management software solution for behavioral health organizations. 

🧑‍⚖️ The California state senate has officially passed legislation to hinder healthcare acquisitions by private equity firms and hedge funds.

👀 After two years of shuttering locations and seeking to improve efficiency, LifeStance Health plans to chart a more aggressive growth course.

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Studies & opinion pieces

🧠 Brain scans can help predict long-term treatment outcomes of depression treatments (study).

💡 The conventional approach to suicide prevention has been absolutely wrong — here’s what we need to do (opinion). 

🧑‍⚖️ Why the FTC’s legal loss over noncompetes matters for autism therapy providers (opinion). 

That’s it for this week! See you next Wednesday with the latest headlines.

- Shân

P.S. You can email me here if you want to share any feedback, or let me know about a business I should be featuring.

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