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

Today, we’re breaking down:

• The State Of Mental Health In America Report

• All your latest news headlines in under two minutes

Let’s dive in.

- Shân

P.S. Three new autism centers were announced — scroll down to ‘expansions, launches, & partnerships’ for more.

Reading time: ~4 minutes.

On our radar

What we’re watching this week 

📊 The State of Mental Health in America

Just released, MHA’s report reveals some sobering stats — and calls for more peer support models.

We’ll jump right in:

➡ America is indeed in a mental health crisis. Nearly one in four adults — ~60M people — experienced a mental illness in the past year. 

• ~13M adults also reported serious thoughts of suicide

• The number of people who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest number ever recorded in US history

➡ The kids are not okay. One in five youths aged 12-17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

• But more than half did not receive any mental health treatment

• Terrifying, as 13% (!!) of youths also had serious thoughts of suicide 

• Shame is huge for this age group, with ~87% of youngsters who didn’t seek treatment saying they “should have been able to handle their mental health, emotions, or behavior on their own”

➡ Substance use disorder is climbing. Close to one in five adults and one in ten youths struggle with an SUD.

➡ But, the whopping majority (77% of these adults) don’t get treatment. Their reasons are:

• Should have been able to handle their drug or alcohol use on their own - 75% (yes, the adults, too)

• Not ready to start treatment - 58%

• Not ready to stop or cut back on using alcohol or drugs - 48%

• Thought it would cost too much - 48%

• Did not know how or where to get treatment - 47%

➡ Many Americans can’t afford mental health care. Almost a quarter of adults who experience 14 or more mentally unhealthy days a month (that’s half the month!) could not afford to see a clinician.

• Even more alarming: this is a 2% increase from the previous year

• Check out the full report for more stats

👀 Worth a quick mention is the report’s call for more widespread use of peer support specialists. Read our coverage of the peer support space (that’s attracted $55M+ in recent funding) here.

Let’s get your news headlines. 

Catch up quick

This week’s top stories

Latest news

🚨 The US has nabbed drug kingpin ‘El Mayo,’ whose cartel is the top trafficker of fentanyl, by fooling him into boarding a private plane.

🤔 There’s a raging debate over whether Congress’ bold effort to protect kids’ mental health through regulating social media platforms could end up making youths less safe. 

🎮️ ‘Smart vapes’ featuring video games (it feels, increasingly, like people are losing their minds) could lure youths to nicotine addiction, experts say. 

🚬 When smokers use behavioral counseling + medications they’re much more likely to successfully quit — but treatment needs to be more equitably available. 

💲 Welfare recipients who stay drug-free will be rewarded an extra $100 per week if San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s new legislation is passed.

🧑‍⚖️ Crossroads Treatment Centers has been fined $850k+ for Medicaid fraud, allegedly knowingly submitting false claims from 2016 to mid-2023. 

🏥 Massachusetts cities may soon be cleared to open supervised drug injection sites and overdose prevention centers.

🧑‍💻 The Biden administration is overhauling its health IT functions to address the surge in cyberattacks and the growth of data & AI in medical settings.

🛑 Fee-for-service models are a barrier to comprehensive autism therapy adoption, with 20% to 40% of BCBAs’ time being non-reimbursable.

⚠️ The FDA has warned people to stop using the kratom product Black Liquid after it was linked to a death.

🤖 Talkspace announced an internal AI Innovation Group to improve provider efficiency and ensure responsible and ethical use of AI in the platform.

🧑‍⚖️ In the latest move toward curbing private equity’s influence, the Massachusetts Senate passed a bill to increase oversight of PE healthcare transactions.

📉 Medicaid redeterminations have begun to impact UHS’s behavioral health arm, with adolescent patients particularly affected. 

💰 Indivior reached an $86M settlement with 16 US states over its alleged role in spreading opioid addiction.

💻 The global prescription digital therapeutics market is expected to reach $21B+ by 2031 at a ~22% CAGR.

📈 The global naltrexone market is forecast to reach $30B+ by 2034, driven by increasing substance abuse awareness and treatment demand.

👀 Gov. Ned Lamont is proposing to return Connecticut’s Medicaid program to a model known as managed care — to quite an uproar.

💸 A $10M reward is on offer for info on the North Korean ransomware hackers who targeted several US hospitals and healthcare systems.

⛺ Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to ‘act urgently’ to ‘humanely remove’ homeless encampments from public spaces.

📊 Maryland’s health department rolled out a new tool that paints a picture of the state’s opioid crisis — and it’s not good. 

Why are you seeing this ad?

Because 47% of US adults with an SUD say they “do not know how or where to get treatment.” 

And 77% of patients look for clinicians online — so your virtual presence and search ranking are key.  

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They make sure people can find you when and where it matters most.

Expansions, launches, & partnerships

🧒 Pediatric behavioral health provider Bend Health launched a new virtual acute stabilization program available in 29 states.

💊 Bicycle Health launched a virtual OUD program for teens ages 16 and 17 who live in Maine, including access to evidence-based MOUDs.

🤝 Talkiatry announced a collaboration with Magellan Health that will extend telepsychiatry services across California.

🤖 Orchid announced a new HIPAA-compliant AI scribe for behavioral health care providers.

🏛️ Autism provider Hopebridge is opening a new center in Munster, bringing its total facility count in Indiana to 22.

🏥 ABA provider Lighthouse Autism Center is opening a new location in Waterloo, Iowa.

🦋 Autism provider Butterfly Effects launched a new ABA therapy center in Fresno, California.

✅ KGH Autism Services landed a two-year accreditation from the Autism Commission on Quality for its ABA programs in Deerfield, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin. 

💡 A Center of Innovation to promote best practices in behavioral health care delivery, and provide educational resources for industry leaders, will be launched by NextGen Healthcare and Mental Health Corporations of America.

Funding rounds & investor moves

🏠 In-home SUD care provider Aware Recovery raised $3.5M amid plans to partner with state government entities, ACOs, and self-insured employers. 

💸 Behavioral Framework acquired North Carolina-based ABA provider Behavior Consultation & Psychological Services — the latest signal that M&A activity in the autism space is on the rise. 

💰 Ochsner Ventures announced a $10M innovation fund to invest in early-stage and health-related companies based in Louisiana.

⚕️ Remote patient monitoring firm CoachCare secured a $48M strategic growth investment.

Studies & opinion pieces

😖 Many US adults living with chronic pain have unmet mental health needs (study).

🏥 Patients in hospitals that provide inpatient addiction services were more likely to start and continue MOUD after discharge (study).

💡 Vendor sprawl is the hidden barrier to effective patient engagement (opinion).

😞 America’s loneliness epidemic is fueling a mental health crisis (opinion).

❤️ Integrating MOUD into follow-up care for patients with serious injection-related infections could increase access to these lifesaving medications (study).

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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