Congress Targets Telehealth Coverage for Mental Health, Substance Abuse Treatment

Congress will be taking a serious look at expanding telehealth coverage for mental health and substance abuse services this year.

Last week Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowsky (R-AK) introduced S 660, which would require private health plans to cover mental health and substance use disorder services regardless of whether they’re provided in person or via telehealth.

The bill’s exact text wasn’t yet available, but it aims to level the playing field for an expanding number of healthcare providers who are using connected health platforms to deliver mental health and substance abuse services.

It comes on the heels of the Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act, which was introduced in the Senate last month and in the House last week after failing to make it through Congress last year.

The TREATS Act would eliminate the in-person exam requirement and allow care providers to prescribe certain controlled substances via telehealth in Medicated Assistant Treatment (MAT) therapy programs, as well as expand Medicare coverage for mHealth services to include audio-only phone calls. It has plenty of backers, including the American Society for Addiction Medicine, National Safety Council, Community Catalyst, Boston Medical Center, National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, Shatterproof and The Kennedy Forum.

“People with substance use disorder have been put at particular risk during this pandemic,” US Rep. Daivd Trone (D-MD), a co-sponsor for the House, bill, said in a press release issued last week. “The telehealth waivers implemented for COVID-19 are innovations long-needed by people seeking treatment or in recovery. The TREATS Act will allow us to make these life-saving addiction policies permanent.”

This week’s bill isn’t Murkowsky’s only effort to expand telehealth coverage for substance abuse treatment. Last month, she and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) reintroduced the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act (S 445), which would eliminate a cumbersome registration requirement known as “the X waiver” for prescribing certain scheduled drugs, such as buprenorphine, in medication assisted therapy (MAT) treatment. The bill was also reintroduced in the House.

“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, substance-abuse-related mortalities have drastically increased and the opioid public health crisis continues to worsen,” Murkowski said in a press release. “It’s critical that we ensure that Americans struggling with these issues have access to safe, effective, live-saving treatments. This legislation will expand access to Medically Assisted Treatments and eliminate barriers to important behavioral health and community-based therapies. Access to care is the key to solving any medical issue - the substance-use epidemic is no different.”

While the latest bill’s text isn’t available, the version introduced in 2019 would also open the door for community health practitioners and community health aides to prescribe these medications through telemedicine.