According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule “finalized some of the most important changes to improve access to behavioral healthcare in the Medicare program’s history.” I can’t confirm this statement, since I’m not a Medicare historian, but I am encouraged by five elements of the final rule — and here’s why.

Through our research, we identified five root causes of dysfunction and inequity in our behavioral health  care system: stigma, social determinants of health (SDOH), lack of research, low reimbursement/lack of affordability, and lack of workforce. It’s true that core healthcare stakeholders like payers, providers, and life sciences companies need to take deliberate action to dismantle these root causes, but they can’t do it on their own: structural change on this scale requires changes in policy, including payment policy.

Here are five ways the 2024 MPFS final rule supports structural change in behavioral healthcare: