Behavioral Health News

The Veterans Administration will waive copays for veterans' first three outpatient mental health or substance use visits in a calendar year. 

The Pentagon is looking into uses of psychedelic medicines for uses beyond mental health, Politico reported June 7. 

Mercy Health-Springfield (Ohio) Regional Medical Center reduced emergency department lengths of stay for behavioral health patients by 64% thanks to a collaboration with a healthcare consulting firm.

A psychiatrist in Wellesley, Mass., was sentenced to prison for charges related to a scheme that defrauded Medicare and private insurers of more than $19 million.

Kettering (Ohio) Health now offers its outpatient behavioral health program at its location in Miamisburg, Ohio. 

Salem-based Oregon State Hospital has received a second immediate jeopardy warning this year after the death of a patient, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported June 6.

New York City Health + Hospitals is implementing a three-year game plan to boost its behavioral health services. 

Both inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services were among the costliest for hospitals to provide in 2023, according to a report from the American Hospital Association. 

An FDA panel recommended against approving MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The toll of mental illness costs the U.S. economy $282 million annually — a 30% increase compared to costs estimated in prior studies, according to an analysis published in April by the National Bureau of Economic Research.