Pennsylvania issued Aetna a $550,000 fine following a market conduct exam that found violations in mental health parity laws, according to a March 3 commonwealth news release. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department reviewed Aetna’s activity from Oct. 1, 2021, through Dec.…
Government & Regulation
Texas Attorney General Ken Paton has issued a legal opinion stating that a Texas state law banning gender-affirming medical care for minors applies to mental healthcare providers licensed by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. The opinion finds that the…
Nevada identified insurer violations of mental health laws based on nonquantitative treatment limitations, according to a Dec. 31 report from the state’s insurance division. To better understand adherence to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, reviewers requested information…
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights has begun enforcing confidentiality protections for substance use disorder patient records as part of President Donald Trump’s Great American Recovery Initiative. The program, which launched Feb. 16, implements the substance use disorder confidentiality provision of…
The FDA has removed a consumer webpage warning about products falsely marketed as autism treatments, according to a ProPublica Feb. 18 report. HHS said it retired the page “during a routine clean up of dated content at the end of…
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Under a bill proposed in February to the General Assembly, commercial health insurers in Illinois would be required to assist in paying the state $100 million, an estimated total to assist in covering behavioral health crisis services. The crisis resources…
The state of Ohio is directing $20 million to support six children’s wellness campuses across the state. The funds will be used to create four new child wellness campuses and expand two existing campuses. The facilities aim to provide short-term…
The Sonoma County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors has awarded $12.4 million to support mental health and homelessness services across the county. The approved funding includes $10 million from the county’s Measure O, a quarter-cent sales tax voters approved in 2020…
Lewis County, Wash., has repealed an ordinance that prevented Gather Church in Centralia, Wash., from operating a syringe services program, resolving a legal dispute over whether the restriction violated federal disability law. The repeal follows a Dec. 31 order from…
Outdated federal policies continue to limit access to behavioral healthcare, leaving patients to bear the consequences, Stuart Archer, CEO of Oceans Healthcare, wrote in a Feb. 9 LinkedIn post. The Plano, Texas-based behavioral health provider operates psychiatric hospitals and outpatient…