The New York Times (10/29, Abelson, Sanger-Katz) reports the administration “has released a preview of the available plans sold through” ACA “marketplaces in 30 states, giving Americans who buy their own health insurance a first look at just how much prices would go up.” Insurers have significantly increased rates “for next year – an average of about 30% for a typical plan in the 30 states where the federal government manages markets, and an average of 17% in states that run their own markets, according to a new analysis from KFF.” However, “the biggest impact for nearly all Americans covered by” ACA “plans will occur with the expiration of generous subsidies at the end of the year unless Congress extends them.” Prices on healthcare.gov “reflect that change using calculations based on a return to the lower subsidy levels offered before 2021.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/28, Monostra) reports researchers wrote in a study that “GLP-1s hold promise as a potential treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders.” The researchers “discussed how GLP-1s are tied to several changes in the central nervous system and suggested the activation of GLP-1 receptors could reduce ‘drug-seeking and consummatory behaviors.’” They wrote “that some studies have found certain forms of obesity have phenotype characteristics that resemble addiction. Additionally, some therapies used to treat alcohol or substance use disorders, such as naltrexone and topiramate, are also used for obesity.” They called for “more research, including more studies to assess the mechanisms of GLP-1s as they relate to substance use disorders and more randomized controlled trials to evaluate efficacy and safety.” The studywas published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

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— “GLP-1s may offer ‘real impact’ for treating alcohol and substance use disorders,”Michael Monostra, Healio, October 28, 2025

HealthDay (10/28, Gotkine) reports a study found that “trauma exposure and traumatic stress are common among adolescents.” The researchers “described rates of trauma exposure and traumatic stress symptoms among youth aged 11 to 19 years who presented to primary care clinics for well-child visits between July 2022 and June 2024.” They observed that “15.5 percent of 24,675 youth reported trauma exposure and 7.5 percent reported moderate or high symptoms of traumatic stress. The researchers found that the likelihood of reporting a traumatic experience was higher for female and Hispanic youth. High anxiety and/or depression symptom scores were seen in only half of youth with high traumatic stress symptoms.” They noted that “compared with those with low or moderate traumatic stress, adolescents with trauma and high traumatic stress were 10 times more likely to have a high risk for suicide, representing 48 percent of all youth at high risk for suicide.” The study was published in Pediatrics.

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— “Trauma Exposure, Traumatic Stress Common in Adolescents,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, October 28, 2025

The American Journal of Managed Care (10/27, Shaw) reports a study found that “clinicians continue to diagnose new cases of opioid use disorder (OUD) among publicly insured youth, even though opioid use continues to drop overall among this group.” The study “employed data from January 2020 through December 2023 from 2 groups of youths: adolescents aged 10 to 17 years and young adults aged 18 to 24 years.” Researchers observed the “overall rate of new OUD diagnoses was 0.27%; of new nonfatal opioid-involved overdose, 0.09%; and of OUD and new nonfatal opioid-involved overdose, 0.04%. The adolescent group accounted for 15% of new OUD diagnoses and the young adult group accounted for 85%. New nonfatal overdose rates were 23% and 77%, respectively, and OUD and nonfatal overdose rates were 13% and 87%.” In response, “researchers are calling for more and better screenings of at-risk youth due to high rates of co-occurring mental health disorders and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses in youth with OUD.” The study was discussed in a JAMA Pediatrics research letter.

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— “With New OUD Diagnoses on the Rise, More Comprehensive Screenings Needed,”Maggie L. Shaw, The American Journal of Managed Care, October 27, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/27) reports the APA’s latest Healthy Minds poll found that just 19% of Americans are familiar with kratom. Nevertheless, “America’s Poison Centers have noted that reports of kratom exposure are increasing across the country: 1,690 kratom-related cases were logged in the first seven months of 2025, more than the entirety of 2024.” The FDA in recent months has “taken steps toward banning certain forms of kratom, sent a warning letter about the substance to clinicians, and announced early steps toward federal regulation. Several states have already banned kratom and/or its psychoactive chemicals, while others have placed restrictions on its purchase.” Meanwhile, the poll “also asked about other unregulated substances marketed for mental health purposes, including kava, blue lotus, wild lettuce, salvia, mugwort, and yohimbe. Less than 8% of those polled were very familiar with any of these.” APA President Theresa M. Miskimen Rivera, MD, said in a statement, “It’s alarming that substances with addictive potential such as kratom are widely available and sold in convenience stores.”

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— “Most Americans Don’t Know What Kratom Is, Poll Finds, Psychiatric News, October 27, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/24) reported a study presented at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s 2025 annual meeting found that “children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more than seven times as likely to be prescribed antipsychotics as a child without ASD, but they are not more likely to be diagnosed with a psychotic disorder later in life.” The researchers “used the TriNetX health care database to analyze five years of electronic medical record data among patients 18 and younger without a history of schizophrenia.” They observed that “children with ASD were two-and-a-half times more likely to experience hallucinations as the control group and three-and-a-half times more likely to experience aggression. Youth with ASD were also nearly eight times more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics and more than five times more likely to be prescribed nonstimulant attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the risk of developing a primary psychotic disorder later in life between those with or without ASD.”

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— “Children With Autism More Likely to Experience Hallucinations but Not to Develop Psychosis, Psychiatric News , October 24, 2025

HealthDay (10/24, Thompson) reported a study found that “teenagers who didn’t get enough sleep on school nights or suffered from interrupted sleep had a significantly higher risk of suicide.” Study results indicated that “sleep problems at age 14 were linked to an increased likelihood of a suicide attempt at age 17, even after accounting for other suicide risk factors. In fact, poor sleep amounted to a stronger risk factor than depressive symptoms or other known risk factors, researchers said.” They theorized “sleep might increase a teenager’s impulsivity,” noting that “teens with stronger decision-making skills appeared protected against the impact of poor sleep on suicide risk, at least at first.” The study was published in Sleep Advances.

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— “Bad Sleep Could Be A Warning Sign For Suicide Among Teens,”Dennis Thompson, HealthDay , October 24, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/23) reports that “tools using large language models (LLMs) to provide psychotherapy – even those prompted to adhere to an evidence-based model – are prone to a slew of ethical violations, according to a new study [PDF] issued…at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society.” The researchers “had conversations with peer counselors who conducted 110 self-counseling sessions with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)–prompted LLMs.” The researchers next “simulated 27 therapy sessions with an LLM counselor using publicly available transcripts of sessions with human therapists.” Afterwards, “three licensed clinical psychologists with CBT experience independently evaluated these simulations to explore how the LLMs might violate ethical standards.” Researchers ultimately found several ethical violations, including: rigid methodological adherence, poor therapeutic collaboration, deceptive empathy, unfair discrimination, and lack of safety and crisis management.

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— “Chatbot Psychotherapists Prone to Serious Ethical Violations,” Psychiatric News, October 23, 2025

MedPage Today (10/23, Firth) reports a study found that “adolescents and young adults were at greater risk of using opioids if their parents had multiple opioid prescriptions.” Researchers observed that “for more than 21,000 adolescents and young adults participating in a population health survey, those who had mothers who received two or more opioid prescriptions had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.34 for any opioid prescription over 7-year follow-up, while those who had fathers with two or more opioid prescriptions had an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.19.” Furthermore, they found that “those with a mother or father who received two or more opioid prescriptions had more than double the risk of persistent opioid use compared with those whose parents did not receive any opioid prescriptions.” The study was published in PLOS Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The American Journal of Managed Care (10/22, Jeremias) reports, “Financial hardship – including poverty, food insecurity, and housing instability – was found to be common among US health care workers, particularly those in direct care and support roles, according to a new research letter.” The investigators “highlighted inequities within the workforce, noting that racial and ethnic minority groups were overrepresented in the lowest-paid health care occupations.” The findings were published in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Many US Health Care Workers Face Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Housing Instability,”Skylar Jeremias, The American Journal of Managed Care , October 22, 2025