Substance Use Tools & Resources    

The CY 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule was placed on display at the Federal Register on December 2, 2020. This final rule updates payment policies, payment rates, and other provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on or after Jan. 1, 2021. This final rule updates policies affecting the calculation of payment rates and includes misvalued codes. It also adds services to the telehealth list including a third temporary category for services added under the PHE, as well as certain other revisions to telehealth services. It also addresses direct supervision as it relates to interactive technology, payment for teaching physicians, and provides clarification on medical record documentation. Additionally, this final rule includes several regulatory actions regarding professional scope of practice for certain non-physician practitioners. This final rule also provides clarification to the implementation of Section 2005 of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which creates a new Medicare Part B benefit for Opioid Treatment Programs. The calendar year (CY) 2021 PFS final rule is one of several rules that reflect a broader Administration-wide strategy to create a healthcare system that results in better accessibility, quality, affordability, empowerment, and innovation.

List of services payable under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule when furnished via telehealth.

A list of U.S. states and territories with COVID-19 telehealth waivers.

A list of U.S. states and territories declaring emergency declarations and details on licensing waivers.

This issue brief discusses challenges and barriers to care faced by individuals in the LGBTQ+ community. It highlights challenges to receiving health insurance and accessing care and discusses health outcomes and policy opportunities.

This brief explores COVID-19 policy changes related to access to medications for opioid use disorder and recommends changes to keep in place beyond the emergency period.

This brief provides an overview of state Medicaid opioid use disorder (OUD) care delivery innovations and offers recent examples from state Medicaid programs based on findings from an OUD policy inventory of nine state Medicaid programs that have been substantially impacted by the opioid epidemic and participate in the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network.

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) convened an interagency workgroup of key U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) experts in overdose prevention and substance use disorders to develop a new strategy to address the evolving nature of the broadened overdose crisis.This issue brief discusses the Strategy in greater detail, including the objectives under each priority area, associated activities, and guiding principles.