Dr Anne Butcher’s Post

This is a step in the right direction. We have seen many policies which carry exorbitant MH deductibles/copays, while physical health is covered. As Alex Stavros mentioned, we still have a lot of work to do. We need to have more incentives for high quality care, outcomes measurements, and better payment practices. The current payment system in behavioral health still incentivizes low cost, ineffective treatment providers because of reimbursement policies. One step at a time.

Mental health spending has surged during the pandemic, reflecting a growing recognition of its importance in overall healthcare. This trend underscores the need for integrated solutions in medical billing and practice management to support mental health services efficiently. At TrustMed Solutions, we're committed to providing comprehensive support for all aspects of healthcare, including mental health. Read more about the increase in mental health spending and its implications from the Axios Article: #mentalhealth #HealthcareSpending #medicalbilling #practicemanagement

📍 The public mental health system is in crisis, and there's little hope for improvement. The root issue is simple: demand far outstrips supply. 👉 This leads to untreated mental health conditions, endless waiting times, and widespread frustration. 🏥 I've personally faced the daunting task of finding a therapist within the public system when I needed help the most. Endless phone calls, being bounced from one provider to another, only to find no appointments available. Sadly, it’s unlikely to improve. 📈 With demand projected to rise by 23% by 2030, the situation could get even worse. The public system and policymakers have largely failed to address the mental health needs of the population. 💡 The real solution may lie outside the commercial insurance system, where patients turn to private providers, paying out of pocket or relying on alternative funding, such as employer-sponsored programs. 🎯 While it’s disheartening, this also presents an opportunity for innovative mental health care providers and platforms such as MeTime Healing to step in and offer fast, accessible, and professional care. #MentalHealthMatters #AccessToCare #MeTimeHealing #MentalHealthSupport #InnovativeCare #BreakTheStigma

Rising Mental Health Awareness Among Seniors Recent data from a FAIR Health, Inc. analysis reveals a significant 40% increase in mental health diagnoses across the nation from 2019 to 2023, with seniors experiencing the largest surge. As of 2023, 14% of individuals aged 65 and over have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, up from 9% in 2019. This uptick, while reflective of the stress and anxiety brought on by recent global events, also suggests a promising decline in stigma surrounding mental health issues and an increase in accessibility to care, particularly through telehealth services. The data, drawn from approximately 46 billion commercial insurance claims, including Medicare Advantage, shows that the trend spans all age groups. However, it's particularly pronounced among seniors and young adults aged 23-40. Generalized anxiety disorder was noted as the most prevalent diagnosis in 2023, underlining the need for continued focus and resources dedicated to mental health, especially as it becomes a more recognized threat to public health. #MentalHealthAwareness #SeniorCare #HealthcareInnovation #Telehealth #anxiety #mentalhealth #senior #brainhealth #psychotherapy https://lnkd.in/gy8KPEyR

Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Final Rule Announced by Fed. FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Lowers Mental Health Care Costs by Improving Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care Specifically, the final rule will: - Require health plans to make changes when they are providing inadequate access to mental health and substance use care. - Make it clear what health plans can and cannot do. They cannot use more restrictive prior authorization, or other medical management techniques, or narrower networks to make it harder for people to access mental health and substance use disorder benefits than their medical benefits. They must use similar factors in setting out-of-network payment rates for mental health and substance use disorder providers as they do for medical providers. - Close existing loopholes including requiring non-federal governmental health plans, like those offered to state and local government employees, to comply with its requirements. Read full Fact Sheet: https://loom.ly/d0-lKak #MHPAEA #regulations #substanceuse #mentalhealth #treatment #behavioralhealth #opioids #healthcare #healthIT

Here is some good news from the Biden-Harris administration. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 22.8% of US adults, or 57.8 million people, had a mental illness in 2021. The number is even higher After excluding children without current health insurance and those younger than 6 years, it is estimated that 16.5 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 6 and 17 — about 7.7 million — have at least one treatable mental health disorder (i.e., depression, anxiety or ADHD. Simply put, a significant percentage of the people of the United States have mental health issues. As this article describes, Biden-Harris is doing something meaningful to help foster wellbeing with those issues. It also tells you that the MAGAt Republicans will do everything they can, added by the corrupt MAGAts on the Supreme Court to block this good work.

This ‘final rule’ released this week adds more needed teeth to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), and is a big deal because it forces health insurers to cover mental health care on equal footing with physical health care, something that should’ve happened after the 2008 law. In practice, people have faced tons of hurdles, like fighting appeals - for the right level of care for the right amount of time, needing extra approvals, and paying out-of-network costs for mental health services. I have seen it firsthand with thousands of families over the past decade. It is hardly ever smooth. This rule cracks down on those unfair barriers, making sure insurers can't make it harder or more expensive to access therapy compared to physical care. The rule also pushes insurers to fix gaps in their networks (very few networks offer the full continuum of care needed to intervene effectively at the right level of care, at the right time) and payment practices. 👏 But there is still more to do; like improving the speed and ease of getting contracted, improving the detail, speed of updating, and accuracy of online network directories, and increasing rates to encourage more high quality providers and care. #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthParity Fact Sheet: https://lnkd.in/gihJBqEw

Research shows barriers to mental healthcare amongst the African American community include: stigma, lack of knowledge, lack of affordability, lack of trust, impersonal service from treatment providers and lack of cultural understanding. Representation in mental healthcare is so important for these reasons. When searching for a mental health provider its important to: 💎Book a consultation. 💎Understand payment options + resources available to you. 💎 Understand your insurance benefits package. 💎 Verify the mental health provider’s license (as a Coach and a Licensed Clinician have very different offerings). 💎 Verify if the mental health provider is licensed to practice in the state you currently reside. If you are using insurance, calling your insurance provider is always a great start. If not, here are a few directories that can help you in your search: @therapyforblackgirls @latinxtherapy @melaninandmentalhealth @inclusivetherapists @therapist.to.therapists @psych_today It’s Mental Health Awareness Month! Take care. Be healthy. Be whole. #blackandbrown #statistics #research #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #mentalhealthmatters💚 #mentalhealthmatters🧠 #femaletherapist #houston #texas #Dallas #women #therapistlife #therapist #therapy #lcsw #clinicalsupervisor #mentalhealthcare #therapyworks

The Biden administration’s new rule gives mental health the attention is deserves, aiming to close the gap between mental and physical healthcare by holding insurers accountable. If you’ve recently tried to find a therapist in-network, you know it’s a struggle—people are almost four times more likely to go out-of-network for mental health, pushing many to forgo treatment altogether. With over 84 million adults battling mental health challenges, this rule could make a real difference, but only if insurers play ball. Will they? Read this article to learn about the new rule.  https://lnkd.in/gZpETf5i #healthcarestaffing #healthcareindustry #healthcareats #mentalhealth

May marks Mental Health Awareness month, an important time for us to reflect upon mental health in the workplace and the robust mental and behavioral health benefits America’s largest employers provide to tens of millions of employees and their families. This year, The ERISA Industry Committee launched a campaign, including a television ad, urging the Administration to rethink a deeply problematic new mental health parity rule change. While intended to improve behavioral health benefits, the rule is so unworkable that it would be impossible for employers to comply. It would bury them in paperwork and red tape. It greatly exceeds the statutory authority of the federal agencies, and would undermine the balance that Congress intended when passing parity laws. And because of these problems, employers would have little choice but to allow unaffordable, low-quality, and unqualified providers into your health insurance network, and increase your health insurance premiums and deductibles. The potential consequences for working families are severe. ERIC knows how to improve behavioral health benefits – we have a host of policy solutions for Congress and the Administration on our website. The most immediate steps should be improving access to providers via telehealth, and integrating primary care and behavioral health. We will continue to work with lawmakers to address this crisis during #mentalhealthawarenessmonth and beyond. Watch our recent ad here, and visit ERIC’s website to follow along with our mental health campaign and policy solutions. https://lnkd.in/eAk_aKk8