VA to require signed consent for some psychotropics; CDC finds suicides were 62.4% of violent deaths; Medicare raises psychiatric facility rates 2.3%

• Policy Sept 28, 2026
  VA will require signature consent before antidepressants for veterans under 30 and opioid-benzodiazepine co-prescribing
  The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Sept. 28 new informed consent guidance for psychotropic medications, including antipsychotics, stimulants, antidepressants, anxiolytics and opioids. Starting in 2027, the department will require patient education and signature consent before concurrent prescription of opioids and benzodiazepines and before prescribing antidepressants to veterans younger than 30. It will also standardize patient education for veterans prescribed psychotropic medications and require documented discussions of risks, side effects, benefits, alternatives and safe discontinuation, including for medications that need only oral consent.
  Source: Department of Veterans Affairs
• Public health Oct 1, 2026
  CDC violent death data for 2023 count 44,966 suicides, 62.4% of deaths, with firearms used in 54.5%
  The National Violent Death Reporting System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected data on 70,133 incidents involving 72,093 deaths in 2023, and suicides (44,966) accounted for 62.4% of all deaths, according to a surveillance summary published Oct. 1. The suicide rate for males, 23.5 per 100,000, was nearly four times the rate for females, 6.1, and a firearm was used in 54.5% of suicides. Among suicide decedents with circumstance data, 22.3% were receiving mental health or substance use treatment at the time of death.
  Source: CDC MMWR Surveillance Summaries
• Payment Oct 1, 2026
  Medicare's 2.3% inpatient psychiatric facility payment update, worth an estimated $60 million, takes effect Oct. 1
  The fiscal 2027 inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) payment rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took effect Oct. 1, updating rates by 2.3%, a 3.2% market basket increase reduced by a 0.9 percentage point productivity adjustment. CMS estimated payments to IPFs will rise by $60 million. The rule implements a standardized IPF patient assessment instrument, removes alcohol use brief intervention and tobacco use treatment measures starting with calendar 2026 reporting, and finalizes a provider-level outlier payment cap with its effective date deferred to fiscal 2028.
  Sources: Federal Register (public inspection), CMS fact sheet

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