The new telehealth restrictions proposed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last week struck a sour chord with several industry stakeholders. Many industry insiders condemned the move as out of touch and even dangerous, jeopardizing telehealth models’ effectiveness in behavioral health. Still, the proposal is not set in stone, and parts of it could change […]
Foley & Lardner LLP
After years of waiting, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday rolled out a new proposal to better formalize controlled substance prescriptions via telehealth. However, the proposal is not the long-awaited registration process Congress mandated for addiction treatment. If finalized, DEA’s proposed plan also moves some aspects of telehealth prescribing back to a pre-public health […]
The Biden administration could mix up how behavioral health operators address worker classification. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said in October it would undo Trump-era classification rules that made it easier to classify workers as contractors. This bolstered the gig economy and placed an emphasis on how much control the employer had over the […]
The autism therapy space got a shock to the system with hundreds of layoffs at major operators. With the demand in services growing, investors and operators have seen the autism space as a golden investment opportunity. However, this rash of layoffs reveals the opportunity in autism comes with deep-seated challenges. A severe supply and demand […]
Medicare’s recently proposed Physician Fee Schedule for 2023 could change how the health insurance industry deals with the behavioral health clinician shortage. Introduced on July 7, the proposed rule seeks to allow more practitioners to address Medicare members’ behavioral health needs. In turn, Medicare’s influence may inspire other health plans to take similar action. “Medicare […]
Facility-based behavioral health operators may be better positioned to cope with changing telehealth regulations than their virtual-only peers. That’s because facility operators who use telehealth have the required building blocks to apply in-person treatment or telehealth as needs arise. In contrast, virtual-only companies must find other ways to partner or integrate with facility operators, according […]
The Florida state government has amended its state code to allow certain controlled substances to be prescribed via telehealth, a regulatory boon for medication-assisted treatment. On April 6., Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 312 into law after it cleared the Florida Senate, its final legislative hurdle, on March 11. Specifically, the bill permits all […]
When President Joe Biden was elected, behavioral health stakeholders were hopeful he would tackle some of the industry’s most pressing issues, chiefly among them being parity. Even though the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires insurers to make behavioral health coverage no more restrictive than medical coverage, payers frequently come […]
Autism treatment providers have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as many of their services are dependent upon in-person connections. But in 2021, stakeholders predict the industry will bounce back; however, it won’t look the same way it did pre-pandemic. Executives and insiders in the space anticipate more children will need higher levels […]
More than 982,000 children suspected to have autism could see delays in their diagnoses due to the COVID-19 emergency, according to Autism Parenting Magazine. Research highlighted by the publication shows that, since April, there has been a 350% increase in Google searches for the term “early signs of autism in toddlers.” Meanwhile, searches for “signs […]