Mental Healthcare

How Payers Help Tackle Substance Use Disorders, Other Conditions

by Kelsey Waddill

The National Quality Forum’s (NQF) Opioids and Behavioral Health committee brought together healthcare leaders from across the nation to explore an under-represented subject: strategies around substance use disorders with...

Survey Shows COVID-19 Toll on Senior Mental Health, Social Health

by Kelsey Waddill

From the beginning, it was clear that seniors’ lives would be turned upside down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but Humana’s survey of over 1,000 seniors reveal the severe toll...

Members Find Private Payer Mental Healthcare Networks Inadequate

by Kelsey Waddill

Private health plan members have found that payers’ mental healthcare networks are less adequate than their medical health networks, a study published in the JAMA Network Open revealed. There...

How Medicaid Expansion Impacted Site of Care, Outcomes in MI

by Kelsey Waddill

Michigan’s Medicaid expansion effort successfully increased access to a regular care site and improved health statuses for many minorities, but did not impact poor mental health days, a study...

Employer Health Benefits Spending Will Normalize in 2022

by Kelsey Waddill

In 2022, health benefits spending will return to normal, prepandemic levels in 2022 by increasing by an average of 4.7 percent over 2021 healthcare costs, employers anticipated in Mercer’s...

How Payers Leverage Apps to Improve Type 2 Diabetes Management

by Kelsey Waddill

In October 2021, Capital Blue Cross strengthened its Type 2 diabetes management efforts by introducing two new apps to its members, apps that could enable them to prevent and potentially reverse the...

51% of Employees Satisfied with Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits

by Victoria Bailey

More than half of employees are satisfied with their current employer-sponsored health benefits, though many faced difficulties due to the rise of healthcare costs, according to the Employee Benefit...

Behavioral Health, Physical Health Worsen Among Women, Children

by Kelsey Waddill

While many health behaviors in women of reproductive age and children have improved in recent years, behavioral health and physical health have declined and uninsurance rose, according to a...

Employers: Mental Health, Chronic Disease Needs Will Rise in 2022

by Kelsey Waddill

Employers are anticipating that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to have a long-term impact in 2022, particularly in the areas of mental health and chronic disease needs, according to Business...

UHC Will Pay Penalty on Mental, Behavioral Reimbursement Parity

by Kelsey Waddill

UnitedHealthcare settled a case with the US Department of Labor and the New York State Attorney General regarding the health insurer’s mental and behavioral reimbursement parity, the Department...

Payer Financially Supports Diversity in Mental Healthcare Workforce

by Victoria Bailey

Blue Shield of California (Blue Shield) is donating $500,000 to a nonprofit internship program in an effort to help diversify the behavioral and mental healthcare workforce. Health Career Connection...

5 Ways Payers Have Tackled Mental, Behavioral Healthcare in 2021

by Kelsey Waddill

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, payers have focused on improving and implementing mental and behavioral healthcare programs. From January to June 2019, 11 percent of US adults reported...

What Employees Want in Their Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits

by Kelsey Waddill

Employees are looking for employers to bolster preventive care services, mental healthcare, and access to employees’ providers in their employer-sponsored health benefits, a Marathon Health...

Medicare Survey Explores COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among Seniors

by Kelsey Waddill

CMS has released preliminary data on Medicare beneficiary experiences during the coronavirus pandemic including coronavirus vaccine uptake. The agency conducted the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey...

Arkansas Blue Cross Grants $5M to Improve Behavioral Healthcare

by Victoria Bailey

Arkansas Blue Cross is allocating $5.29 million to behavioral health programs in Arkansas to help increase access to behavioral healthcare services amid the ongoing mental health crisis in the...

MACPAC Notes Behavioral Healthcare Parity Compliance Challenges

by Kelsey Waddill

Behavioral healthcare parity compliance has been complicated due to disparate strategies and data collection challenges, particularly around non-quantitative treatment limitations, a recent MACPAC...

How Employer Health Benefits Are Changing Due to Coronavirus

by Kelsey Waddill

As the country emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, employer health benefits will be more focused on investing in mental healthcare needs and will reduce the prominence of physical wellness programs,...

Behavioral Healthcare Parity Is Low Among Regional, State Plans

by Kelsey Waddill

Although the coronavirus pandemic has imposed significant changes on the healthcare industry particularly in regards to behavioral and mental healthcare, historically behavioral healthcare parity has...

Humana Increases Access to NC Medicare Advantage Mental Healthcare Resources

by Victoria Bailey

Humana has announced plans to open additional Humana Neighborhood Centers across North Carolina to improve the physical and mental health of its Medicare Advantage members. Humana Neighborhood Centers...

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