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Use of digital behavioral health services increased during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person visits were limited. This brief examines how different types of mental health apps are used, how federal policies during the pandemic affected the scope of services they could provide, and key issues to watch.

Note: This content has been updated to incorporate new developments in the case. It has been more than ten years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required private insurance plans to cover recommended preventive services without any patient cost-sharing. Research has shown that evidence-based preventive services can save lives and…

This brief explains the preventive services coverage requirements, the basis of the Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra lawsuit, next steps in the litigation, and the potential implications.

Based on the findings of a nonprobability sample of 6,000 survey respondents from four telecontraception companies, this brief presents a snapshot of telecontraception users and their reasons for using these platforms.

In its role as a public program and the single largest payer of behavioral health services in the country, Medicaid is particularly well positioned to implement policy to improve the delivery, quality, and effectiveness of behavioral health services. Our analysis finds that 7.3 percent of Medicaid enrollees ages 12 to 64 had at least one clinically-identified substance use disorder in 2019, but this is likely an undercount, as other research suggests that prevalence is at least 4 times higher. People with clinically-identified SUD were more likely to be male, White, over 25 years old, and qualify for Medicaid based on a disability or through Medicaid expansion. Rates of clinically-identified SUD vary across states not only because of prevalence, but also because of other factors, such as provider screening behavior and variation in Medicaid coverage of services. National recommendations instruct providers to screen for substance use and conduct brief interventions for adults 18+, yet there may be gaps between SUD screening and referral. Other factors–such as patient privacy concerns or few healthcare visits–may also play a role in low identification of SUD.

This Issue Brief reviews the history of Africa CDC, describing its structure, funding and operations to date, including U.S. government engagement, as well as challenges and opportunities for the institution moving forward.

This data note estimates that the value of tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals was $28 billion in 2020. This amount exceeds estimated charity care costs among nonprofit hospitals in 2020 ($16 billion), though charity care represents only a portion of the community benefits reported by nonprofit hospitals.

This brief explains a new proposed federal regulation aimed at reducing administrative hassles involved in obtaining prior authorization for care and sets out key policy questions, including how the proposal could impact the patient experience and data privacy.

This chart collection examines the latest available data on how health services utilization has changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.