A A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill this week that would allow health care providers to prescribe buprenorphine, a drug commonly used to treat opioid addiction, via telehealth. The measure, known as the Telehealth Response for E-prescribe Addiction Therapy Services Act TREATS, would permanently extend a temporary Covid-era policy that allowed patients to …
Tampa businessman and philanthropist Kiran Patel is returning to the health insurance industry through a new venture with Boston-based eternalHealth. Patel is a major investor and shareholder in the company, which manages Medicare Advantage health plans in six Massachusetts counties, according to an announcement this week. It recently expanded to the Phoenix area and now …
CHICAGO The Chicago Department of Public Health is facing hundreds of vacancies and a loss of COVID-19-related grants, but the mayor’s proposed 2024 budget sets the stage for expanding the department’s mental health services. The agency has 493 vacancies across all departments, representing about 42 percent of its positions, Acting Commissioner Fikirte Wagaw told aldermen …
Marin County plans to expand a program to administer drugs to inmates against their will. Last fall, the Oversight Board authorized court-ordered medications to be administered to inmates deemed unfit to stand trial without their consent, if necessary. Before this authorization, detainees had to stay in prison for months until a bed was available in …