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After decades of taking a back seat to other social issues, fixing the nation's broken system of care for millions of Americans suffering from mental illness and drug addiction has risen to the top of Congress' agenda. Lawmakers are poised to pass a sweeping package of mental healthcare reforms during the lame-duck session next month, following enactment in July of legislation to address the epidemic of opioid addiction. They and advocacy groups are optimistic the Senate will follow the House in approving bipartisan legislation to revamp the government's mental healthcare efforts and increase funding for prevention and treatment. (Meyer, 10/8)

Just 55% of psychiatrists accepted private insurance as payment in 2010 (compared with 89% of doctors in other medical specialties) and the percentage had declined 17% since 2005, according to a 2014 study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Medicare and Medicaid acceptance rates among psychiatrists were also lower compared with the rates of other physicians. The same study found 55% of psychiatrists accepted Medicare reimbursement, compared with 86% of physicians in other specialties, while 43% accepted Medicaid, compared with 73% of other doctors. (Johnson, 10/8)

The state will adopt new policies it hopes will better protect patients at its mental hospitals against sexual assaults as part of a proposed settlement with a former patient who was abused on two separate occasions, including by another patient with HIV. After 20 months of negotiations with the victim's attorneys, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which oversees the state's mental health facilities, agreed to develop a safety and protection plan, as well as conduct psychiatric evaluations for all patients. (McDaniels, 10/7)

Harris County Judge Rory Olsen is now accepting involuntary psychiatric commitment requests signed by doctors of osteopathic medicine, a reversal of his position that health care leaders complained aggravated the area's already limited access to mental health care. Olsen on Friday changed his policy to only grant the requests from medical doctors following Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's decision to review whether osteopathic doctors have the legal authority to certify an individual is mentally ill, dangerous and in need of commitment. (Ackerman, 10/7)