Home Mental Health Topics

Mental Health

New and noteworthy

A New Executive Order and Homelessness and Mental Illness

This brief examines data on homelessness and mental illness against the backdrop of President Trump’s executive order aimed at removing unhoused people from the streets and enabling more involuntary civil commitments for psychiatric institutional care. This approach could reverse a decades-long shift in treatment approaches for people with serious mental illnesses that moved people away from long-term psychiatric institutions toward community-based treatment settings.

Also: Five Key Facts About People Experiencing Homelessness

At the Three-Year Mark, Demand for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Continues to Grow

How Might Changes to the ACA Marketplace Impact Enrollees with Mental Health Conditions?

The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Adolescents

Mental Health and Substance Use State Fact Sheets

Access and coverage

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    More than 25 years after the first federal mental health parity protections were put in place, adequate coverage for behavioral health care remains elusive. This brief explains the federal behavioral health parity requirements and sets out key policy issues.

  • Section 1115 Waiver Watch: Contingency Management

    Of the 800,000 Medicaid enrollees aged 12 to 64 with a diagnosed stimulant use disorder in 2019, about 20% were in states that now have approved 1115 Medicaid waivers for contingency management services.

  • The Landscape of School-Based Mental Health Services

    In the 2024-2025 school year, 18% of students utilized school-based mental health services. This issue brief explores the landscape of mental health services, including services offered, utilization, barriers, and funding, as well as recent federal actions.

  • 5 Key Facts about Medicaid Coverage for Adults with Mental Illness

    Nationwide, an estimated 52 million nonelderly adults live with mental illness, and Medicaid covers nearly one in three (29%) of them, or about 15 million adults.

  • What Federal Medicaid Cuts Could Mean for the Opioid Epidemic

    Medicaid covers 47% of all nonelderly adults with OUD and is the primary coverage source among those receiving treatment services. This brief offers a look at what federal Medicaid spending cuts could mean for this population.

Latest News

More KFF Health News

Subscribe to KFF Emails

Choose which emails are best for you.
Sign up here

View the Latest: Mental Health

Filter

List Grid

141 - 150 of 244 Results

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    News Release

    With federal agencies preparing to update parity regulations and Congress considering reforms, our new report explains existing parity requirements, including who they apply to and how their enforced, and highlights key policy issues raised by regulators and advocates that could be addressed in the future.

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    Issue Brief

    This brief discusses federal mental health parity protections -- what they are, who they apply to, who enforces them and key policy issues as Congress and federal agencies evaluate improvements to the law to address gaps in mental health coverage and access.

  • Do States with Easier Access to Guns have More Suicide Deaths by Firearm?

    Issue Brief

    The recent mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo have catalyzed discussion around mental health and gun policy. In the same week that the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed strengthening background checks for young adults, adding incentives for red flag laws, and reducing access to guns for individuals with a domestic violence history, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s “proper cause” requirement for concealed carry allowances. In this issue brief, we use the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wonder database and the State Firearm Law Database to examine the association between suicide deaths by firearm and the number of state-level firearm law provisions.

  • As the U.S. Prepares to Launch a National Three-Digit Number for the Mental Health Crisis Hotline in July, Data Show Suicide Death Rates Increased in the Decade from 2010 to 2020, Especially Among People of Color

    News Release

    As the federal government prepares to launch the national three-digit number “988” for the mental health crisis hotline next month, a new KFF analysis shows that suicide death rates increased by 12 percent in the decade from 2010 to 2020 -- with death rates rising fastest among people of color, younger individuals, and people who…

  • Examining Prior Authorization in Health Insurance

    Policy Watch

    This post explains what's known about how insurers use prior authorization as a tool to control costs and encourage cost-effective care, the state and federal laws that govern it, and ongoing policy debates over efforts to impose standards to limit or regulate its use.

  • The Future of Mental Health Coverage & Access

    Event Date:
    Event

    On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, a panel of experts joined series moderator Larry Levitt in a 45-minute discussion exploring the future of mental health policy, including continuing enforcement challenges related to mental health parity and potential policy actions that could help improve access to mental health and SUD care.

  • KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Views On The Pandemic At Two Years

    Feature

    A new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor finds as many restrictions are being lifted, most of the public say they have personally returned to doing some of their pre-pandemic activities, but not all. In addition, majorities still report wearing masks in public indoor areas, but the public is split on whether the transportation mask mandate should continue. The pandemic has had a heavy toll on mental health, both for adults and their children, with people citing lack of human interaction and financial struggles as challenges over the last two years.