CARES Act: Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Provisions

Several of the provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) will help people with substance use disorders and the healthcare professionals who care for them. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will receive $425 million to address mental health and substance use disorder needs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and the federal privacy restrictions found in 42 CFR Part 2 (“Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records”) have been revamped to allow health professionals who treat substance use disorders to share patient records for care coordination purposes. A further discussion of these provisions may be found here.