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New York State Must Intervene in the Behavioral Health Crisis
New York State is in the middle of a behavioral health crisis. Suicide rates are up over 40% in the last 20 years. Overdose rates are almost four times higher than they were in 2010. During this crisis, Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) paid by the State are taking hundreds of millions of...
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NY State Governor Hochul Receives National Award for Outstanding Leadership in Mental Health Policy
Mental Health America’s 2026 Governor’s Leadership Award Cites Administration’s ‘Significant and Sustained Investments’ in Mental Health Governor Hochul has Channeled Approximately $2 Billion into Expanding Access; Strengthening New York State’s Continuum of Care Governor...
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Building and Maintaining New York’s Behavioral Health Care Workforce
New York State has made tremendous investments in mental health treatment and services since 2022 and has made great progress addressing mental health needs in our State with a series of initiatives, such as expanding prevention and access, embracing innovative treatment methods, and increasing...
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The NYSPA Report: Federal and State Coverage of Telehealth and Its Role in Expanding Access to Mental Health Care
Following the COVID-19 public health emergency, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made permanent expansions to the coverage of telehealth under the Medicare program. CMS has greatly increased the number of services included on the permanent list of telehealth services and...
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Governor Hochul Announces Tools to Improve Digital Wellness Among New Yorkers
With Tech Devices Popular as Gifts, New York State Provides Free Educational Materials Aimed at Safely Navigating the Modern Digital Landscape Online Resources Complement Governor’s Nation-Leading Commitment to Protect Youth Mental Health and Establish Distraction-Free...
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2025 Behavioral Health Trends Recap – Progress, Setbacks, and the Road to 2026
In early 2025, I called out 10 major trends shaping the behavioral health (BH) landscape: integration of behavioral and physical health, mental health parity, digital health and AI, federal policy shifts, prevention, vulnerable populations, workforce development, and overdose prevention. At...
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The Silent Battlefield: Synthetic Opioids Hidden in THC Vapes
The overdose crisis has always been a war, but the battlefield keeps shifting. Today, the weapon isn’t a needle or a powder bag. It’s a vape pen—sleek, pocket-sized, sold at a gas station counter, and marketed as harmless cannabis. In reality, these cartridges are Trojan horses carrying...
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An Epidemic of Anxiety and Depression Requires a Reevaluation of Conventional Treatment
The field of psychiatry has been governed by a medical model of illness in recent decades. This model posits behavioral health conditions, including anxiety and depression, are manifestations of biological abnormalities that may be corrected through interventions commonly employed in other branches...
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America’s Hidden Maternal Mental Health Crisis
There is a quiet but growing crisis unfolding in America. It is the steady erosion of maternal mental health. New national data underscore what so many families and clinicians already know: U.S. mothers are struggling, and the supports meant to sustain them are lagging behind. A recently...
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Weapons of Mass Distraction: Why Governor Hochul’s New York Cellphone Ban Rings True for Adults
I’m not one to mix politics and parenting, but something clicked, or maybe buzzed, when Governor Kathy Hochul recently proposed a statewide classroom cell phone ban. The proposed “bell-to-bell” ban would make New York the largest state to restrict classroom phone use. According to the...
