Medicare Changes in Response to COVID-19: Unintended Effects for Beneficiaries With Mental Illness or Substance Use Disorders

What is it about?

Many Medicare policies have been waived to facilitate health care access during the COVID-19 pandemic. We reviewed a set of these policies and convened a modified Delphi panel to assess the potential effects of these policy waivers on Medicare beneficiaries with mental health and substance use care needs. We identified two policies that might have unintended adverse effects for this population: a policy waiving detailed hospital discharge planning requirements and a decision to not enforce certain HIPAA penalties. Moving forward, pandemic and emergency policymaking should more directly engage with potential unintended consequences for this population.

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