‘That’s Where Medicare Needs to Go’: What CMS’ New IOP Proposal Means for Behavioral Health Providers

Thursday night, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) dropped a new proposed rule that would allow Medicare to cover intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) for mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The proposed changes could open the door for IOP providers to work with the Medicare population and give patients a […]

Autism Therapy Companies to Watch in 2023

Industry insiders projected that 2023 would be a year of reckoning for autism treatment providers.  The reckoning is here. Major platform companies have made significant stumbles, and workforce challenges still plague the industry. All the while, payers continue to hold out on raising reimbursement rates for most autism therapies. Instead, payers eye value-based care arrangements. […]

Digital, Retail Mental Health Services Are Straining Community-Based Behavioral Health Providers

Behavioral health services offered by digital health and retail companies have attracted many patients with lower-acuity mental health needs. In turn, many community providers are seeing an influx of higher-acuity patients who need in-person services. This often means that community providers assign their clinicians a less balanced caseload, which some warn could lead to burnout. […]

‘If There Is a Chilling Effect, It’ll Be Very Temporary’: What CARD’s Bankruptcy Means for the Autism Industry

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders’ (CARD) bankruptcy doesn’t foreshadow a new level of doom and gloom for the industry as a whole. Although CARD is one of the largest companies operating in the space, it shouldn’t be used as a bellwether for autism therapy’s future outlook, several insiders told Behavioral Health Business. “I’d […]

Standardized Credentialing, Reimbursement Clarity Could Accelerate Use of Peers in Behavioral Health Care

Years into a national behavioral health workforce shortage, many provider organizations are now seeking to leverage peer specialists. Advocates argue that peers could be a crucial part of expanding behavioral health access and supporting patients holistically in their recovery. Yet reimbursement challenges and varying state licensure requirements have historically created barriers for providers utilizing the […]

CARD Founder Pushes to Buy the Company Out of Bankruptcy

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections and entered into a stalking horse bid agreement with a group led by its founder and ex-CEO Doreen Granpeesheh. The news comes after months of rumors regarding CARD’s status, with multiple sources telling BHB they believed the company was exploring strategic […]

‘It’s a Copout’: Why Payers Shouldn’t Say Value-Based Care in Autism Therapy Is Impossible

Value-based care in autism therapy doesn’t exist in a meaningful way. Several industry challenges create an urgent need for innovation in payment models. Stagnant fee-for-service rates and workforce pressures are at the forefront of those issues. Common value-based care challenges, like tracking and quantifying value, have also stymied many conversations. Yet, this type of innovation […]

5 Mental Health Companies to Watch in 2023

With macroeconomic headwinds leading to declining valuations and less M&A activity, the mental health space is at a crossroads. The notoriously fragmented industry is still prime for maturation, but many companies are facing growing pains. Several companies that came onto the public market during the 2021 boom year are struggling to keep up with investor […]

‘A New Choice’: Carelon Opens First Brick-and-Mortar Clinic to Boost Behavioral Health Access, Address Whole-Person Health

Carelon, the health care services arm of Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV), has opened its first brick-and-mortar clinic. At an organizational-level, the opening reflects Carelon’s commitment to boosting access to behavioral health services while advancing whole-person health, according to Glenn MacFarlane, who serves as president and CEO of Carelon Behavioral Health, formerly known as Beacon Health […]