More than one in five adults live with a mental illness, with one in 25 adults living with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. To address the public’s need for more behavioral health services, the federal government is maneuvering with new strategies to “prioritize high-quality behavioral health services.” Additionally, multiple federal agencies have rules in the pipeline to address the need for behavioral health care.

CMS’ Behavioral Health Strategy

Earlier this year, CMS released its own strategy to prioritize behavioral health and payment parity. CMS noted that its priorities are to advance the established HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration, the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy, and the HHS Pain Management Task Force Report. The CMS Behavioral Health Strategy focuses on three key areas:

• Substance use disorders prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
• Ensuring effective pain treatment and management.
• Improving mental health care and services.

Rules in the Works

• The Department of Labor (DOL) submitted its final rule to the White House, the last stop before its public release. The rule seeks to revamp provisions implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and establish new requirements regarding non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTL). It’s not clear when the final rule will be released.
• The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) submitted its second attempt at a telemedicine prescribing rule on controlled substances to the OMB in mid-June. The pandemic-era flexibilities for telehealth prescribing will end in December 2024.