Behavioral Health News by State

Northeast & Mid-Atlantic:

DC (Washington, D.C.) DE (Delaware) MD (Maryland) NJ (New Jersey) CT (Connecticut) RI (Rhode Island) MA (Massachusetts) VT (Vermont) NH (New Hampshire)

2026 Policy Benchmarks

Side-by-Side State Behavioral Health Policy Comparison

Compare Medicaid expansion, commercial parity enforcement, licensure compacts, and 988 funding between any two states.

Select State A:

Select State B:

California (CA)

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Medicaid Expansion: Adopted (CalAIM)

Parity Enforcement: Comprehensive (SB 221 / 10-Day Rule)

Counseling Compact: Pending

PSYPACT (Psychology): Pending

988 Lifeline Dedicated Funding: Enacted ($0.08/line)

Telehealth Parity: Payment Parity

Clinician Shortage Severity: Moderate (55%)

Texas (TX)

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Medicaid Expansion: Not Adopted

Parity Enforcement: Standard (SB 636 / CMS-0057-F)

Counseling Compact: Pending (Standalone TX License)

PSYPACT (Psychology): Operational

988 Lifeline Dedicated Funding: State Budget ($10.4B)

Telehealth Parity: Coverage Parity

Clinician Shortage Severity: Severe (246/254 counties)

Select a state to view therapy, mental health, and behavioral health policy news from 2025 and 2026. Each state page tracks legislation, funding announcements, crisis services, telehealth, Medicaid parity, workforce developments, and significant events — all with source links.

What the state tracker covers

State policy moves faster than federal rulemaking, and the details that matter to a practice are often buried in agency notices, Medicaid plan amendments, and legislative calendars. The state pages on this site collect the changes that affect day-to-day operations:

Legislation and regulation — bills, statutes, and agency rules affecting licensure, scope of practice, telehealth, and payer oversight.
Funding and grants — state and federal funding announcements, workforce investments, and crisis infrastructure spending.
Crisis services — 988 call center deployment, mobile crisis teams, and school-based behavioral health programs.
Medicaid and parity — managed care changes, network adequacy standards, and state-level parity enforcement actions.
Workforce — licensure compacts, scope-of-practice reforms, and supervision pathway changes.
Telehealth — state-specific audio/video coverage rules and interstate licensure requirements.

How to read a state page

Each state page is organized by month and year. Entries are dated, summarized in plain language, and linked to the primary source. If a claim is time-sensitive, we include the effective date or the date the source was published. The goal is to give clinicians and clinic operators a quick scan of what changed, with a direct link to read the full document.

Coverage is updated continuously

We add new state entries as we identify public-source developments. If you see a bill, rule, grant, or court decision that should be included, send it to us with a link to the primary source. We will verify it and add it to the tracker.

States A–C

States D–H

States K–M

States N–O

States P–W

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Don’t see your state’s latest news? Email tips@thera.news with a source link and we’ll add it.