The American Psychiatric Association finds video based sessions “equivalent” to in person care for diagnosis, quality, treatment, and patient satisfaction. Nevertheless, insurance has not always covered it. Facing surging demand and a possible mental health epidemic, insurers are scrambling to make changes. Aetna Inc. is offering no copay telemedicine, including mental health care, until June four. The insurer has also relaxed the rules of its to allow for telephone and video therapy and is currently reimbursing for extra services such as virtual intensive outpatient treatment for conditions as substance use disorders. UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation’s largest insurer, is offering anxiety and stress management care at no cost through an app called Sanvello and is allowing providers to treat patients by phone and video through April thirty. Anthem Inc. is waiving co insurance and copays for behavioral and mental health visits through telehealth provider LiveHealth Online.

Government Assistance to Mental Health Facilities

The federal government has also relaxed several of its privacy standards. In March, the Department of Human and Health Services issued guidance Which it wouldn’t impose penalties for providers unable to comply with HIPAA rules during the Covid 19 nationwide public health emergency. (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act dictates how providers communicate with patients to guard the privacy of medical records.) That means, for the time being, therapists are able to conduct sessions using totally free and widely available services including FaceTime, Google Hangouts, or perhaps Skype. The authorities did warn that public facing services like Facebook Live and TikTok should not be used by mental health providers.

Much love we have seen elsewhere in the U.S. health care system, the unexpected and growing need for care has left mental health providers overwhelmed. One problem: There are not enough therapists to go around. “Demand has increased significantly for American mental health, and our supply has not changed in a significant way,” says Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer for the National Alliance on Illness that is mental. Historically, practitioners can only serve patients in states where they had been licensed, but states are rapidly trying to relax those requirements to accommodate the influx of need. Each locality has a licensing permissions, although, leaving companies as Talkspace having to wade through a patchwork of regulations.

Red Tape In Place for Mental Health Facility Assistance After COVID-19

“There are potentially 4 different boards with 4 different regulation sets in every one of the fifty states for us to monitor,” says Lindsay Henderson, director of mental services at AmWell, a major telehealth medicine provider. AmWell works with over 2,000 hospitals and over fifty health plans and offers remote mental health care from licensed independent social workers, psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and licensed family and marriage counselors. “We are leading very carefully and very conservatively and ensuring we’re clear on every state specific regulation change before we can make some changes in just how our network is practicing. It’s time-consuming.” and labor-intensive

Not all behavioral health problems may be dealt with from afar, and individuals that need a lot more hands on treatment could fall through the cracks. Duckworth volunteers in an early psychosis program that had to close due to coronavirus, forcing patients to find other choices – as well as rapidly. He is aware of one psych ward that had to temporarily stop accepting patients after an optimistic Covid 19 diagnosis, although he did not wish to reveal the name. You’ll notice individuals in need of electroconvulsive therapy or perhaps hospital based mental health services that could be temporarily suspended due to new hospital policies. He recommends people call the health plan of theirs or primary care doctor if they cannot immediately find services.

“It’s not actually a system,” he says of the U.S. mental health infrastructure. “It’s a patchwork quilt of well meaning policy people and individuals trying to offer huge amounts of services to many individuals in a payment structure which is varied and complex. It is rather a challenge.”