Government & Regulation

New legislation in Oregon would apply a 50-cent tax on all phone lines in order to fund the state's behavioral health and suicide crisis hotline, The Corvallis Advocate reported April 6. 

Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky has signed a bill into law that will increase funds for mental health services for law enforcement, CBS affiliate WKYT reported April 6. 

CMS issued a proposed rule on April 4 that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System.  Six things to know:

Medicaid reimbursement rates are set by individual states, and they vary wildly between states. Nebraska's Medicaid rates are the best in the nation, at 167 percent the equivalent Medicare rate and more than double the national average.

Medicaid reimbursement rates are set by individual states, and they vary wildly between states. Pennsylvania's Medicaid rates are the worst in the nation, at less than one-third of the equivalent Medicare rate and less than half of the national average.

Behavioral health is undergoing a broad awakening, with both leaders and the public increasingly seeing it as vital. The industry may fail to capture the full momentum of those tailwinds, however, if service bottlenecks and other key obstacles are not…

New legislation in Nebraska would implement a new payment framework for behavioral health and substance misuse providers, which could expand mental health services in the state, StarHerald reported March 29. 

Montana lawmakers have developed a plan of how to spend the $300 million Gov. Greg Gianforte pledged toward behavioral health, NBC affiliate KTVH reported March 29. 

A new piece of legislation would allow physician assistants in Massachusetts to place individuals in an involuntary psychiatric hold if thought to be experiencing a mental health crisis or a harm to themselves or others.

New York healthcare providers, including Buffalo, N.Y.-based Evergreen Health, are suing the state over changes to its 340B program set to take effect April 1, ABC affiliate WKBW reported March 27.