IHA Daily Briefing: January 15

SAMHSA Reverses Decision to Cut $2 Billion in Behavioral Health Services
On Tuesday, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reportedly sent termination letters to approximately 2,000 grantees that amounted to an estimated $2 billion cut of long-standing programs for mental health and substance use treatment and prevention. SAMHSA stated that the specified award was terminated pursuant to 2 CFR § 200.340(a)(4), which permits a federal grant to be terminated in part or in its entirety, "to the extent authorized by law, if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities."

These affected programs included screening and referral services, education, drug courts that offer treatment as an alternative to incarceration, and programs for pregnant and postpartum women in recovery. By Wednesday, the administration had reversed course and reinstated the funding, without a statement as to why the decision was made. Between those two actions, a bipartisan letter with signatures from 100 House members was sent to U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with significant lobbying to restore the funding.

SAMHSA has lost approximately 40% of its staff over the last year to layoffs and resignations following consolidation of the federal workforce. Recent data from the White House Office of Personnel Management showed that the agency now employs 547 people, down from 916 in 2024.

Staff contact: Lia Daniels

Controlled Substance Prescribing via Telehealth Permitted Through Dec. 31, 2026
On Dec. 30, 2025, the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a temporary rule extending telehealth practice waivers for the fourth time for prescribing controlled substances. IHA has updated its Telehealth Fact Sheet with the practice waiver updates, in addition to existing summaries of recent coverage waiver updates.

The temporary rule extends current waiver flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine through Dec. 31, 2026, including:

• Allowance for the prescribing of schedule II-V controlled substances, including schedule III-V medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD), via audio-video telemedicine. Prescribing does not require a prior in-person medical evaluation, if certain conditions are met:

  • The prescription must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice.

  • The prescription must be issued by a practitioner for a patient using an interactive telecommunications system (not asynchronous or store-and-forward telecommunications).

  • The practitioner must be authorized to prescribe the basic class of controlled substance specified on the prescription or exempt from obtaining a registration to dispense controlled substances.

  • The prescription must be consistent with all other legal and regulatory requirements.

• Application of flexibilities to all practitioner-patient relationships, not just relationships established during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Separate final rules on telehealth practice published by HHS and DEA in January 2025 and effective Dec. 31, 2025 are not affected by the temporary rule on prescribing controlled substances that was released on Dec. 30, 2025. These final rules:

• Expand the ability of providers to issue prescriptions of buprenorphine for treatment of OUD via telemedicine; and

• Ensure continuity of care via telemedicine for Veterans Affairs patients.

Staff contact: Lia Daniels

HHS Voluntarily Pauses Actions Against Hospitals for Performing Gender-Affirming Care
On Dec. 18, 2025, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a declaration stating that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries were neither safe nor effective for treating gender dysphoria in children (Kennedy Declaration). Concurrently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed two rules seeking to restrict the provision of gender-affirming care. An IHA memo covering these proposed rules is available here.

Within days, multiple children's hospitals were referred by HHS to its Office of Inspector General for providing gender-affirming care contrary to the Kennedy Declaration. On Dec. 23, 2025, 19 states, including Illinois, and the District of Columbia, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to vacate the Kennedy Declaration (Oregon et al. v. Kennedy et al., no. 6:25-cv-2409 (D. Or.) on the basis that it violated the Administrative Procedures Act. The major pleadings in this case are available at the Georgetown University Law Center's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law litigation tracker.

On Jan. 7, 2026, the court granted a joint request from the plaintiffs and HHS to modify the briefing schedule, setting oral argument on the parties' cross motions for summary judgment for March 19, 2026. In consideration for getting more time to respond to the lawsuit, HHS agreed not to issue any notices of intent to exclude or notices of exclusion from participation in federal healthcare programs (Medicare and Medicaid) until the earlier of: (1) the court's decision on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, or (2) 30 days after oral argument on the summary judgment motions.

Although HHS agreed to pause actions against hospitals under the Kennedy Declaration, the proposed rules from CMS are still moving through the notice and comment rulemaking process. Hospitals have until Feb. 17, 2026 to submit comments on the proposed rules.

Staff contacts: Michael Woods (legal information), Cassie Yarbrough (policy information)

FDA Food, Supplement Recalls
Citing possibly listeria contamination, stores nationwide are pulling grated Pecorino Romano cheese products, including stores in Illinois. The original recall started in November, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) upgraded the recall last week over the chances for serious health consequences, or even death. Recalled brands include Boar's Head, Pinna, Locatelli and Sam's Club cheeses, and were distributed to retail stores and food distributors nationwide between Nov. 3, 2025, and Nov. 20, 2025.

At least 45 people in almost two dozen states-including Illinois-have been sickened with salmonella food poisoning linked to the Super Greens brand of diet supplement powder, federal health officials said in a recall alert yesterday. Illnesses started on dates ranging from August 22, 2025, to December 30, 2025. Of 41 people with information available, 12 have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.