Federal Telehealth Policy for Behavioral Health Services

Faegre Drinker Director Megan Herber participated in a panel discussion on federal telehealth policy for behavioral health services at the 2022 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Management Summit.

At the height of the pandemic, everything went virtual, including many health care services. COVID-19 has contributed to increased need for behavioral health and substance use disorder services, layered on top of existing provider shortages and the opioid epidemic. However, the expanded access to virtual services, particularly in behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment, has been illuminating and has provided opportunities to reach patients that may not have been reached before. The question for the eventual post-pandemic world is not whether virtual behavioral health services will be useful, but whether the legal and policy landscape will allow them to flourish. This workshop focused on the federal law that needs to be addressed and updated in order to support the way that telebehavioral health can be practiced today. Panelists discussed the laws in place as well as efforts by Congress, the White House and advocates to change them.