The Senate HELP Committee advanced Timothy Westlake, MD, President Donald Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary for mental health and substance use at HHS, in a 12-11 party-line vote. The nomination will now move to the full Senate for a final…
Government & Regulation
Limiting access to firearms could have the greatest effect on preventing suicide deaths and “will save the most lives,” Paul Nestadt, MD, medical director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention, told KFF Health News in a Sept. 18…
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health launched the Systems for Phenotypic Evaluation, Clinical Trajectories, Response, and Agency program Sept. 17. Here are four things to know: 1. SPECTRA will bring together biological, clinical, behavioral and real-world data with advanced…
On Sept. 14, a bipartisan resolution was introduced that aims to create a National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. The resolution was sponsored by five representatives, according to a Sept. 15 American Hospital Association news release. If passed, it would recognize…
Tennessee is the ninth state to begin granting privileges to licensed professional counselors to practice across state lines through the Counseling Compact. Under the compact, participating states recognize eligible counselors’ home-state licenses, much like states recognize driver’s licenses issued elsewhere,…
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Federal lawmakers have introduced or revived several bills this year aimed at expanding access to addiction and mental health treatment, from new Medicare coverage for residential opioid treatment to permanent funding for community behavioral health clinics. Here are eight to…
South Carolina failed to ensure that insurers administering its Medicaid program complied with federal requirements prohibiting stricter prior authorization limits on mental health services compared to medical services, an audit report published Sept. 8 by the HHS Office of Inspector…
Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente is facing pushback from San Francisco, the first city to pass a resolution opposing the health system’s behavioral health contract demands related to AI, layoffs and outsourcing, according to a Sept. 1 report from the Board…
The California Legislature passed Senate Bill 903, which would prohibit AI algorithms from providing or advertising therapy or psychotherapy in California, according to an Aug. 31 news release from Sen. Steve Padilla’s office. Here are three things to know: 1.…
The Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily placed three 7-hydroxymitragynine-related substances in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, effective Aug. 26. The substances are mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16. The temporary order remains effective until Aug. 26, 2028. DEA based the…