Modern Healthcare (3/21, Tepper, Subscription Publication) reports, “Health insurers Anthem and Aetna began denying [healthcare professionals’] claims that include consultation codes this year, joining the growing ranks of payers cutting reimbursement amid an industrywide coding change.” In 2010, “Medicare stopped paying claims that include consult codes,” and “now, more insurers are following the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ lead and requiring [healthcare professionals] to use different codes to bill for consultations.” In 2019, “UnitedHealthcare stopped recognizing these codes…in an effort to align with federal practices,” implementing “the policy after facing pushback from groups such as the… American Psychiatric Association, which complained the change undervalued their members’ services.”

Related Links:

— “More insurers cut payment for patient consultations “Nona Tepper, Modern Healthcare, March 21, 2022

The Hill (3/21, Barnes) reports, “More than a quarter of U.S. parents said their child has seen a mental health specialist over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 60 percent of visits taking place in the past year,” researchers concluded.

According to HealthDay (3/21, Munez), “nearly 95% of the parents surveyed said they were somewhat or very confident that they would notice the signs of” mental health problems in their children. Nevertheless, “only about 25% think their adolescent would definitely talk to them, while 55% say their teens would possibly talk to them if they were experiencing mental health issues.” The poll data included responses from some 1,200 US parents. Anish Dube, MD, “a member of the American Psychiatric Association Council on Children, Adolescents and Their Families,” and who “was not involved with the poll,” was “encouraged by parents’ responses that they’re actively looking out for their children’s mental health.” The poll’s findings were published March 21 in the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Related Links:

— “A quarter of parents say their child has seen a mental health specialist during pandemic: poll “Adam Barnes, The Hill, March 21, 2022

CNN (3/18, Ahmed) reported that “the number of deaths in the U.S. involving alcohol jumped 25.5% between 2019 and 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to” a study that “analyzed death certificates provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics for people 16 and over between 2019 and 2020.” The study published in JAMA revealed that “there were 78,927 alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. in 2019 and 99,017 in 2020.” CNN added, “Alcohol-related deaths made up 2.8% of all deaths in 2019 and 3% in 2020.”

Related Links:

— “Alcohol-related deaths in the US spiked more than 25% in the first year of the pandemic, study shows “Tasnim Ahmed, CNN, March 18, 2022

Healio (3/18, Herpen) reported, “Mental health of young adults showed little change at the outset of COVID-19, but appeared to worsen as the pandemic continued,” researchers concluded in a “multisite, longitudinal study” that “included 794 participants…from five institutions from the United States and Canada.” The findings were presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America annual conference.

Related Links:

— “Mental health of college students altered as COVID-19 pandemic continued “Robert Herpen, Healio, March 18, 2022

Healio (3/18, Ellis) reported, “Compared with other first-line osteoporosis treatments, alendronate therapy yielded an increased risk for depression and anxiety,” researchers concluded in a study that “analyzed more than 100,000 adverse events reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System…and the WHO’s VigiAccess adverse drug reactions global database.” The findings were published online in the journal Scientific Reports.

Related Links:

— “Alendronate therapy associated with depression, anxiety “Brian Ellis, Healio, March 18, 2022

HealthDay (3/18, Reinberg) reported that “using medical marijuana to treat pain, anxiety or depression may quickly lead to dependence, without relieving symptoms,” according to researchers who “found that the odds of developing cannabis use disorder were nearly two times higher among” participants who received a medical marijuana card “right away compared to those who had to wait.” The study findings published in JAMA Network Open revealed that “after 12 weeks, 10% of the group with cards had developed a dependence on marijuana,” and “that percentage doubled to 20% for those using marijuana to treat anxiety or depression.”

CNN (3/18, LaMotte) reported participants “who got cards immediately saw ‘no significant changes in pain severity or anxiety or depressive symptoms’ but did report improvement in insomnia and greater well-being, according to the study.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Marijuana Rx Ups Odds for Overuse, With No Benefit to Health: Study “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, March 18, 2022

STAT (3/29, Deng, Huh) reports that Afghan refugees are struggling with “grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder after living through war and having to leave their homes.” Even though “there are mental health resources available to Afghan refugees – who were recently granted temporary protected status in the U.S. – there are significant barriers to accessing that care.” Additionally, experts say that “providing mental health services is more challenging for Afghans” because of cultural factors and “a ‘mismatch’ between Western and Afghan ways of thinking about mental health.” Language barriers also pose a formidable problem. The article adds that “past reports from the American Psychiatric Association suggest very few refugees in the U.S. are referred for” mental healthcare.

Related Links:

— “Afghan refugees, grappling with grief and trauma, face barriers to mental health care ” Grace Deng and Jenny Jiin Huh, STAT, March 29, 2022

PatientEngagementHIT (3/17, Rodriguez) reports, “Medical misinformation has been spreading rapidly nationwide, causing many Americans to struggle to identify the difference between fact and fiction and hampering patient health literacy, according to… research from GoodRx.” Nearly “three-quarters of the 1,000 adult survey participants had been exposed to inaccurate medical or health information,” and “16% stated they were unable to decide if they had been exposed.” The results also “showed that 44% of people reported low confidence in their ability to distinguish the accuracy of medical information.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Misinformation Exposure Reduces Patient Health Literacy ” Sarai Rodriguez, PatientEngagementHIT, March 17, 2022

Healio (3/17, VanDewater) reports, “Women who took antidepressant medication had persistent depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum, with some women experiencing increased anxiety symptoms,” investigators concluded in a study that “enrolled 88 pregnant women (89% white) by 18 weeks’ gestation who had a diagnosis of” major depressive disorder (MDD) “and were currently taking” the SSRI antidepressants “sertraline (n = 47), fluoxetine (n = 10), citalopram (n = 9) or escitalopram (n =22).” The study revealed that “despite maintenance treatment, pregnant women with MDD frequently had residual symptoms at enrollment and throughout pregnancy and postpartum.” The findings were published online March 4 in the journal Psychiatric Research & Clinical Practice, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, depression persist despite antidepressant use in pregnancy, postpartum “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, March 17, 2022

HealthDay (3/17, Preidt) reports, “Rates of postpartum depression among American mothers rose nearly three-fold during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with large increases in major depression and thoughts of self-harm,” researchers concluded in a study that “included 670 new moms who completed online screening between February and July 2020.” Of those women, “one-third screened positive for postpartum depression and 20% had symptoms of major depression,” whereas “before the pandemic, about one in eight new mothers had postpartum depression and between 5% and 7% had major depression, according to the” CDC. The findings were published online March 14 in the journal BMC Research Notes.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum Depression Rates Have Tripled for New Moms During Pandemic “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 17, 2022