Policy Tracker
With New Report, Biden Administration Takes on Insurers Over Mental Health Failings
The Biden administration unleashed an aggressive opening salvo Tuesday in what it pledges will be a sustained effort to compel U.S. health insurers to pay for mental health services on par with the way they cover physical health care.
Biden Administration Taking Aggressive Steps to Enforce 25-Year-Old Mental Health Parity Law
The Biden administration is expected to announce Tuesday stepped-up enforcement of so-called mental health parity laws requiring health insurers to cover mental illness on the same basis as medical and surgical needs, the most aggressive intervention yet by the federal government.
Surgeon General Warns of Youth Mental Health Crisis
New report spells out mental health crisis and offers steps forward.
Beltway Update: Build Back Better Bill Closer to Finish Line
While there still is a long road ahead before Build Back Better could become law, it seems now that they may be closer than before.
Beltway Update: Mental Health Funding Boost Likely in FY22 Appropriations Bills
Much attention is being paid to the so-called human infrastructure bill that Democrats are struggling to come to agreement on, but the yearly federal appropriation bills for FY 2022 has bigger implications for mental health funding.
CDC Recognizes Mental Illness as Risk for COVID-19 Complications, Increasing Access to Booster Shots
The decision, announced October 14 after a review of studies of 1.5 million people, means that those with mental health conditions will be among the groups eligible for vaccine booster shots.
Beltway Update: Mental Health Funding at Stake in Democrats’ Budget Battle
There is potentially a lot of mental health money in the outlines of the human infrastructure package, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as several mental health initiatives.
The 988 Crisis Hotline is Coming. Will States Answer the Call?
With the deadline for launching the 988 line just 7 months away, only a few states have enacted legislation to create and fund call centers and other services.
Trieste’s World-Famous Community Mental Health Program Under Attack
A program that was a living symbol of the movement for dignity of mental patients was giving power to an official who was criticized for his treatment methods.
