Becker’s Behavioral Health

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Jim Justice, R-W.Va., introduced bipartisan legislation to remove prior authorization requirements for medication-assisted treatment under Medicaid.  The proposed No Red Tape for Addiction Treatment Act would require all state Medicaid programs to cover at least…

Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy has spent the past five years scaling a collaborative care management model across roughly 300 clinics in four states. Its goal has been to integrate behavioral health into routine medical care while working through payer adoption, technology…

Advanced monthly payments from the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion were associated with short-term improvements in child behavioral health, but those gains disappeared after the payments ended, according to a Dec. 10 study published in The Milbank Quarterly.  Congress established…

Sumter, S.C.-based Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital is set to open a $9.1 million, 16-bed Behavioral Health Emergency Care Unit Jan. 5, providing around-the-clock stabilization and support services.   The unit will serve patients experiencing behavioral health or substance use crises, with…

In 2024, Cigna’s Evernorth Behavioral Care Group launched to address rising behavioral health needs, beginning with virtual services in six markets and a network of 1,000 providers.  As of November, Evernorth has expanded to more than 5,000 providers across all…

Renton, Wash.-based Providence’s Well-Being Trust focused on expanding access to behavioral healthcare in 2025 through whole-person care, caregiver support programs and partnerships that served vulnerable populations, according to Arpan Waghray, MD, CEO of Providence’s Well Being Trust.  Here are five…

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is partnering with Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to evaluate how AI tools respond to mental health queries.  The effort is being led in partnership with John Torous, MD, and the Division of…

A digital platform that connects primary care patients to behavioral health services reduced hospital visits while increasing access to outpatient care, according to a new study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Managed Care. Researchers from…

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., has reintroduced the Repealing the IMD Exclusion Act, a bill aimed at eliminating a federal Medicaid restriction on coverage for inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment.  The bill would repeal the Institutions for Mental…

Sierra Vista, Ariz.-based Canyon Vista Medical Center has implemented a new intake and assessment process for patients experiencing mental and behavioral health emergencies.  The redesign allows patients to bypass the traditional emergency department and go directly to an assessment within…