STAT+: Medicare finalized coverage for some mental health apps. Now what?

Medicare regulators on Friday finalized rules to pay for some mental health apps, a breakthrough for digital therapeutics companies that have struggled for a foothold in the health care system.

The new rule creates codes that allow clinicians to bill Medicare for providing the apps and related services to their patients. Beginning January 1, 2025, the codes will enable payment for mental health apps authorized by the Food and Drug Administration under a specific regulation that includes just a handful of treatments for conditions like depression and substance use disorder. 

The codes to cover the apps, which regulators call digital mental health treatment devices, were first proposed for the 2025 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Fee Schedule in July, and were finalized with some minor changes after comments from industry and the public.

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