The measure would also empower the state — through eminent domain — to assume control of hospitals that are at risk of closure because of financial instability.

Sen. Saud Anwar, a South Windsor Democrat who is co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said he raised the proposal after researching what authority other states had to intervene in dire situations.

CT officials vow 3 hospitals in bankruptcy won’t close

Rhode Island has a policy that permits hospital receivership, and state officials in Massachusetts can seize hospitals through eminent domain, as was recently done in the case of St. Elizabeth Medical Center, a Steward Health Care-operated facility. Steward has also filed for bankruptcy.

Earlier this month, Prospect Medical sought Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Northern Texas. The chief executive officer of Prospect’s three Connecticut hospitals — Manchester, Rockville and Waterbury — said payroll continues to be met and Gov. Ned Lamont vowed that the hospitals would remain open.

But it’s unclear what the filing will mean for the pending agreement Prospect signed in 2022 to sell its three Connecticut hospitals to Yale New Haven Health.

Attorney General William Tong recently commented on the need for stronger state authority to intervene when hospitals confront financial hardship.

“We need stronger power and authority to step in when situations like this happen,” Tong said at a press conference last week. “The Rhode Island Attorney General, for example, has receivership power that I don’t have, and he exercised that power in Rhode Island. … As I look at the legislators over here, we’re going to have the conversation about what we need to do in Connecticut.”

New wrinkle in sale of three struggling CT hospitals. ‘We are watching this closely’: state official

The language of Anwar’s bill says lawmakers are trying to “prevent abrupt service interruptions and ensure the continuity of health care services at hospitals,” as well as “allow the state to coordinate long-term solutions when a hospital is in financial distress or experiencing an operational crisis.”

Tong said he supports the measure.

“We are aware of the proposal and would support an expansion of the state’s authority to intervene in these types of situations, including receivership which is not currently an option in Connecticut,” he said in a statement. “More broadly, we remain concerned by the growing influence of private equity over health care, and the challenges posed by consolidation of health care delivery in Connecticut. There needs to be greater oversight and transparency regarding these transactions and acquisitions.”

Nicole Rall, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Hospital Association, said receivership and eminent domain don’t solve issues of financial distress.

“CHA looks forward to continuing conversations with lawmakers related to what would be helpful in preserving patient care and protecting jobs during a time of crisis, but we also must recognize that receivership and eminent domain do not solve the problems that cause financial hardship in the first place,” Rall said. “Important questions need to be answered about defining financial hardship, how receivership would be used, and why eminent domain for this use should even be considered. We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively on solutions.”

A spokesperson for Prospect Medical did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.

The Connecticut Mirror wrote about the lack of a receivership law in Connecticut last year as Prospect was dealing with financial difficulties and hospital officials were sounding the alarm about deteriorating conditions at the facilities.

The CT Mirror obtained emails that showed a top Lamont adviser raised concerns about the absence of a receivership policy.

“Other states [like Rhode Island] have clear authority to put a hospital into receivership, we do not,” Matthew Brokman, then a senior aide and now chief of staff, wrote in an email.

A spokeswoman for Lamont said Monday the governor plans to also put forward measures that would bolster state oversight of health care.

“We’ve yet to review [Anwar’s] proposal but the governor plans to re-introduce legislation this session that would strengthen the state’s oversight of financial transactions involving hospitals and other health care institutions,” spokeswoman Julia Bergman said.

Although bills that would regulate private equity investment in health care failed to win passage last year, Anwar said he’s optimistic the receivership bill will have good support this legislative session, especially in light of the bankruptcy filing.

“Unfortunately, because of some of the bad actors in private equity, we are seeing hospitals go through significant financial trouble,” Anwar said. “As a last resort, if things do not work out, the state has to [be able to] intervene. I feel like this is life insurance for health care system.”

A Yale New Haven Health spokesperson has said, “Prospect’s decision to file for bankruptcy is much larger than just the state of Connecticut – this is a national matter and of grave concern to many hospitals around the country.

“Yale New Haven Health raised the alarm about this inevitability in the lawsuit we filed last year, recognizing Prospect’s lack of investment and mismanagement of the Connecticut Prospect hospitals,” the spokesperson said recently. “The situation was further exacerbated by their lack of payment to the pension plans and growing debt to the state, local governments and vendors. Many of these same issues were referenced in lawsuits filed by the states of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island regarding Prospect’s mismanagement of their hospitals in those states. We will closely monitor the proceedings and determine what steps, if any, YNHHS will take as part of this process.”

Jenna Carlesso and Dave Altimari are reporters for The Connecticut Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/ ). Copyright 2025 © The Connecticut Mirror.

The letter to the two companies, specifically to Altice Chairman and CEO Dennis Mathew and MSG Entertainment Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan, was signed by Democratic state Sens. Bob Duff, James Maroney, Milford; Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, Trumbull; Herron Keyon Gaston, Bridgeport; Julie Kushner, Danbury; Ceci Maher, Wilton; and Patricia Billie Miller, Stamford.

In a statement, the senators said they are frustrated “with the prolonged negotiations, which have blocked access to critical sports programming. Fans of the New York Rangers, Knicks, Devils, and other teams remain caught in the crossfire as the companies fail to come to terms.”

“Fans of the Rangers, Knicks, Devils and many other teams in Connecticut are unable to watch their teams as the competition heats up in both leagues,” the letter says. “The constant gamesmanship by all sides in the television wars must stop. We need to put customers first. With the escalating costs we are all paying, there is no excuse for viewers to be without access to their sports teams.

“We ask that you immediately begin giving viewers access to the Madison Square Garden channel through Optimum while your negotiations continue,” the letter says. “If this does not happen, we demand that they receive refunds and reduced bills in the future for the content that they are paying for but are not receiving. Your customers are not the only potential losers in your disagreement. This disagreement will result in both of your companies losing paying customers who decide they are better off finding their entertainment and relaxation in other ways.”

Optimum said in a recent statement that it and MSG Networks have “been negotiating.”

The statement, dated Jan. 16, said Optimum had over a period of two weeks, “hosted MSG Networks’ executives in its offices twice and hosted multiple calls trying to find a solution that would bring MSG Networks’ content to fans and prevent non-viewers from having to pay for what they do not watch. MSG Networks has refused all offers. Perhaps MSG Networks is purposely trying to tank the deal to get customers to pay three times more for their own app AND save the Sphere by bankrupting MSG Networks?

“As MSG Networks continues to deflect responsibility for its ongoing blackout of Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, and Devils games, today, Optimum has called on the programmer to refund customers upwards of $125 million — representing the estimated $10 per month per subscriber MSG Networks announced its sports programming is worth,” the statement said.

Asked about the lawmakers’ letter, a spokeswoman for Optimum said the company “remains open to reaching a fair and equitable deal with MSG Networks, despite them refusing to engage in meaningful, consumer-friendly negotiations. Throughout our conversations, MSG has been asking for an old model from before streaming solutions like the Gotham Sports app and others – a model that forces non-fans to pay for content that they don’t want.

“Video is clearly not a one-size-fits-all model, yet since day one, Optimum has been offering solutions so fans never have to miss a game,” the spokeswoman said. “This means pointing viewers to other streaming options, including Gotham Sports – MSG’s own app – which puts money back in their own pockets, and working directly with our customers to help offset and defray these costs.”

The spokeswoman also noted, “we are saving non-fans from paying for the content that they do not watch and have multiple new, affordable video solutions for them, starting at only $30/month.

A spokesperson for MSG Networks said, “We agree with the letter we received from the Connecticut State Senators and would be happy to have our games restored in Connecticut as well as all the other Optimum areas.

“We’ve already offered multiple options, all of which Altice has declined:

1. A short extension (which we are prepared to offer again tied to binding arbitration);

2. A renewal on the exact same terms as our previous agreement;

3. A deal on the same terms we recently agreed with another major operator; or

4. A renewal accepting the same terms and conditions that Altice just recently concluded with the YES Network.

“However, while our goal has been to get our programming back on, Altice has shown no motivation in solving this. We also agree that Altice should be proactively reducing their customers’ monthly bills for programming they are not receiving but are still being charged for. We appreciate their attention to this matter.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James today Jan. 13 said in a statement on the contract negotiations between MSG Networks and Altice, which owns Optimum: “As two major corporations engage in contract talks, the people who are impacted the most are everyday New Yorkers who simply want to watch sports and enjoy television programming. Altice, which owns Optimum, and MSG Networks, which provides sports coverage for some of New York’s favorite sports teams, are struggling to reach a final agreement, and consumers who expect the programming and games they paid for are the ones missing out.

“I will be monitoring this situation closely to ensure New York customers receive the services they are paying for. I urge both companies to work together to reach a fair, final agreement so New Yorkers can get back to rooting for the home teams.”

The Connecticut lawmakers said, “We will not take any side in this dispute except that of our constituents, who pay significant amounts of money for the content you both provide but cannot view the athletic events that give them joy.”

“The constant gamesmanship by all sides in the television wars must stop,” the senators wrote. “Time for both sides to play ball so our residents can get back to the game.”

But according to experts, those Airbnb properties are contributing to the declining supply of long-term rentals.

A consumer affairs study from last year marked Connecticut as the worst state for renters. The report said the median gross rental on a two-bedroom apartment is $1,441, and the vacancy rate is 3.5%. It appears many potential sellers and landlords are content with the short-term benefits of Airbnb, and that has put a further squeeze on any person or family seeking long-term rentals.

“If someone takes a piece of property and converts it into an Airbnb, there’s one less house for sale, it’s one less apartment to be rented, ” said David Sacco, a University of New Haven lecturer in the finance, economics, management and entrepreneurship program. “The demand for rentals and the demand for housing in this area hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s probably gone up in the last four years as people have pushed out of New York City to places like Connecticut to work at home. There’s probably more demand for housing (in Connecticut) than there was four years ago.”

Sacco said the increase in Airbnbs has not only decreased apartment and housing availability but are also competition for hotels. He said real estate is all about supply and demand, and Airbnb properties are taking away supply from the long-term rental markets.

“There is also less housing for sale because people are essentially converting their property to short-term rentals. I think that’s an area where you have a finite supply issue and that exasperates it a little bit because there is this new opportunity for people to monetize property they own that just didn’t exist five or 10 years ago,” Sacco said.

He said because of the demand, prices have gone up.

“The national real estate market is really scattered. There are a lot of different regions and different regions have different issues. In the Northeast, we have a dense pack of real estate and housing that you are going to have anywhere in the country. There are basically no places to build new housing except where housing already exists,” Sacco said. “In other parts of the country there is plenty of room to expand. Places like Connecticut and most of the Northeast don’t have the ability to sprawl out like other areas.

Sacha Armstrong-Crockett, luxury real estate advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International, said she is seeing a rise in small investors in Hartford County.

“There’s an increased demand for rentals as buying a home becomes more challenging. Some markets are highly competitive, where, unfortunately, many people are either being priced out or repeatedly overlooked. A reliable and stable rental market is essential to meet the needs of those unable to buy,” Armstrong-Crockett said.

Any quick search on the Airbnb platform turns up dozens of listings for Hartford sites, from one room to entire homes. The prices also vary widely, with some rooms list for less than $50 per night, while homes can be hundreds of dollars a night. Others are listed by the week at higher prices. There also are many listings in surrounding towns.

Armstrong-Crockett said the rise of Airbnb presents both benefits and challenges in Hartford County.

“When it’s a small business or a source of supplemental income for families, it can positively contribute to a community,” she said.

“However, if it reaches the point when it reduces long-term rental options, it could affect local housing availability. As someone who works with investors and offers fair housing and first-time buyer workshops to renters, I understand both perspectives,” Armstrong-Crockett said. “Real estate is a financial product for property owners, but housing is also fundamentally a human right. Property owners who provide long-term, healthy and stable housing are important to any community.”

She said she is monitoring the historic Linus B. Plimpton House located at 847 Asylum St. in Hartford, which is being handled by Armstrong-Crockett’s colleague Ellen Sebastian. The house dates back to 1862.

“It’s a NINA property, meaning it must be owner-occupied. The home also features two stunning apartments. It’ll be fascinating to see how things unfold. My hope is that it becomes a space for multigenerational living or that someone creates a truly unique, high-end rental opportunities for the Hartford community,” Armstrong-Crockett said.

NINA is Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, Inc. which is a Hartford non-profit that “rehabilitates blighted historic houses as owner-occupied opportunities for low-to-moderate-income households,” according to its website.

‘No place to build’

One solution is that the government gets involved, but Sacco said rent control may not be the answer and that there is “very little the government can do to alleviate the supply and demand issue.”

“They can do what the government in New York City has done for years and pose some form of rent price control,” Sacco said. “The problem with price control, which we see in New York City in spades, is that price control, all that they do is exacerbate the shortage because there is not going to be more supply that is created. In fact, there is going to be less supply as the prices are artificially held low and people have less incentive to rent their existing property and people have even less incentive to improve their existing properties to make them more attractive to people.

“Any time you put in price controls you end up with bigger shortages than you had before which doesn’t help the problem. It’s great for some and then everyone else gets priced out,” Sacco said. “You still have the same shortage, and it just gets exasperated, meaning ultimately the market has to come to an equilibrium which is tough in this area because there is no place to build. It’s hard to see where the growth is coming from. Unfortunately, more people, including young people, may consider moving away from this area.”

“I know we tend to think of it as bad with an exodus of people leaving the region that we are living in for real estate prices, but in reality, a lot economic value is being created as well for those people who can move and have more affordable housing and to those areas where real estate values start going up as well,” Sacco said.

Changing markets

David Haberfeld, a Bristol-based real estate investor and entrepreneur, runs Haberfeld Enterprises and said Airbnb is one of the contributing factors, but not a main reason, some buyers and renters are struggling to find housing or rent in the state.

“People think that there is this crazy housing shortage because there is no supply, but the supply is just not on the market,” Haberfeld said. “It’s not listed, so there is a shortage, but not a real shortage of units. People think that greedy landlords are the reason the prices are so high and think that Airbnb is taking away all of the apartments, but it’s just not true. They are contributing factors but not the main drivers.”

Other reasons Haberfeld mentioned sellers aren’t putting their houses on the market are higher interest rates and higher bank fees.

“Airbnbs are also necessary,” Haberfeld said. “I’m a fan and I’m an operator. People that have had a fire in their house and need a place to go and have a family that can’t fit into the hotel room, Airbnb is the right answer for them. Who wants to be the one to say you can’t have Airbnbs here so you have to leave our community, and you can’t stay here.

“Traveling nurses are another group,” he said. “Who wants to say traveling nurses cannot come to our area because we don’t allow Airbnb and hotels are too expensive for them. There is definitely a valid use for Airbnb in every community to have some.”

Haberfeld said tenant/landlord laws have pushed landlords toward renting Airbnbs. He switched to renting Airbnbs in Bristol during the eviction moratorium during the pandemic. He stopped renting his properties because he didn’t want to take the financial risk.

“The reason is you can’t make money in a long-term rental anymore and the tenant/landlord laws are so skewed and are so tenant friendly that landlords are shifting toward Airbnb because the government is abusing the landlords,” Haberfeld said. “Saying that you have to let them live here for free during the eviction moratorium. The Fair Rent Commissions are killing landlords.

“If the tide was to change and the government was to stop abusing landlords and if someone is not paying you can evict them in a timely manner,” he added. “The Fair Rent Commissions are almost unnecessary in my opinion. Some of these short-term rentals will come back to the market. Short-term rentals are about four times as much work as long-term rentals and not everyone wants to do it. But people are kind of forced to do it.”

Jacek Mikolajczyk, a realtor at Berkshire Hathaway, suggests that many potential sellers are also using Airbnb while waiting for a better environment to sell.

“We are seeing a little bit of a slowdown,” Mikolajczyk said. “Some of the homeowners are trying to survive and are trying to rent until the mortgage rates go back down and they can list their house again and get the most income they can for them.

“In this market, there are not too many homes listed,” he added. “People are thinking they are going to get the prices they were getting during COVID, but that’s not the case anymore and it’s hard to let them go for less, so they try an Airbnb. As soon as the mortgage rates go down and more buyers will come back and will start bidding again. … My team sells more than 100 homes per year. We see what is going on.”

Donald Trump’s tariff threats stand to hurt American economic interests because they would disturb automotive supply chains where the U.S. is strong and drive up consumer prices, said the head of General Motors Co.’s Canadian unit.

“It is a disruption that is in no one’s interest, especially in the U.S.,” GM Canada President Kristian Aquilina said in an interview.

Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, in addition to other trade measures. A report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday said the incoming president will stop short of imposing tariffs on his first day in office. Instead, the new administration will direct federal agencies to evaluate U.S. trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, the Journal reported.

Canadian officials have said they’re waiting for Trump’s decision on tariffs, but they will retaliate if necessary with counter-tariffs against U.S. products. If those are applied to cars and trucks, it would make U.S.-manufactured vehicles less attractive to buy.

That would be a blow to Canadian consumers, who are significant buyers of U.S.-made cars and trucks. About 50% of the vehicles sold in Canada by value in 2023 were imported from the U.S., according to calculations by the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, a research group based in the province of Ontario.

The U.S. is also the dominant outside supplier of parts, providing about 65% of Canada’s auto-part imports, Trillium said. Mexico has a 14% share.

Overall, Canada had about a C$40 billion ($27.7 billion) trade deficit on motor vehicles and parts in 2023, according to data from Statistics Canada. It’s the largest single category of Canadian imports from the U.S.

North American auto supply chains may have to change depending on how far Trump goes with tariffs, Aquilina said. “We are going to size that up, whether it’s January 21 or later, and work out the best response, and what adjustments we need to make in our business,” said the executive, adding that too many unknowns remain for now.

Detroit-based General Motors makes a limited number of vehicle models in Canada. Its two Ontario assembly plants build Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and electric vans for commercial use. Another GM plant in the province manufactures engines and transmissions for U.S. factories that make full-size trucks and the Chevrolet Corvette.

Tariffs, if there are no exemptions, will simply end up increasing the cost of vehicles and components traded back and forth among countries, Aquilina said. “It’s an industry that’s been built over a long period of time to assume natural flow of goods.”

Tariffs might also put additional pressure on the Canadian dollar, making it even more expensive to import U.S. parts to build vehicles in Canada, he said. The loonie slumped about 4.5% between U.S. election day and Jan. 17.

That currency weakness is already being felt in the sector, the GM executive added. “The cost of those vehicles for us to purchase, and then sell to our dealers and customers, is getting higher.”

That’s not the only headwind for sales. Canadian governments are phasing out or pausing incentives on electric vehicles, despite a federal policy mandating that by 2035, all new light-duty vehicles sold should be zero-emission. An interim target of 20% has been set for next year.

For GM, Canada is the company’s third-largest market, representing 294,000 vehicles sold last year, about 14% of which were electric. The company has about 8,000 employees in Canada.

Aquilina said Canada should back off the 20% target for 2026 because it’s “unrealistic,” and price reductions to stimulate electric-vehicle purchases aren’t sustainable. “We’re hurting ourselves, and making us weaker in response.” GM’s adjusted profit margin was 6.3% in the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

That, plus those who operate the restaurant are known as “well respected veterans in the hospitality industry.”

Not only was it recently named 2024 restaurant of the year, that honor also made the relative newcomer the first Fairfield County restaurant to capture the state title from Connecticut Restaurant Association.

Bar Rosina’s in Greenwich topped all the others in the CRA’s Crazies awards, where 25,000 votes were cast by the public and industry experts.

CRA president and CEO Scott Dolch, who didn’t have a vote in the awards, said the win “is a big deal in that area, especially a restaurant that is a stone’s throw from the New York line getting recognized as the best in the state.”

The restaurant was opened in August 2021 by longtime friends Chef Jared Falco, 39, and Coby Blount, 40, who specializes in working front of house and is general manager.

The two met working in a restaurant in 2014 and became fast friends with a dream to open their own place.

“I’ve had the opportunity to dine at the restaurant and their food, drinks and overall hospitality was extraordinary,” Dolch said.

Falco, who has been experimenting with cuisine since childhood, as both of his parents worked, later “fell in love with business,” he said.

Receiving the Best Restaurant in Connecticut award, “blew me away,” he said.

“For me it was a surprise. We were significantly younger and never thought we had a shot,” he said.

But Dolch isn’t surprised, he said all the signs of success were there.

“They are both well respected veterans in the hospitality industry in Fairfield County,” Dolch said.

He said Chef Jared was a finalist for Chef of the Year at the CRAZIES in 2022, their bartender Juan Meyer was up for Bartender of the Year in 2022 and the restaurant was a finalist for Restaurant Newcomer in 2022. This is the 6th year of the awards.

“Also know that Chef Jared has a huge chef following among the chef/culinary community, he is a rising star who works hard on his craft day in and day out,” Dolch said.

Guests who have reviewed the restaurant online rave about the food and atmosphere in the restaurant with simple, but elegant decor.

“The food here was fantastic! Awesome drinks and wine list too,” one guest wrote. “Everything is made in house with a clear passion for food. We ordered a lot, and everything was absolutely delicious.”

Another wrote: “We love bringing the family here… The ambience in the restaurant is perfect, with a solid menu and wine list to match. Wood fired pizzas with perfect base/crust and all homemade pasta.”

Blount said they’re going for an “upbeat, energetic vibe,” and reviews indicate that’s been accomplished.

Everything on the menu is from scratch, the pasta, the cheese, and the fresh produce flows from many sources, as the restaurant has a garden, they buy at farmer’s markets and Blount’s father-in-law, a silent partner, contributes from his own massive garden.

The restaurant is named after Blount’s father-in-law/silent partner’s late mother, Rosina, an avid cook and gardener.

Blount said they buy products “hyper local,” including meats.

“We do our best to make guests happy,” Blount said. “I like that every day there’s a new challenge… a new chance to make someone’s day better.”

The menu is brimming with interesting offerings, including appetizers such as ravioli filled with house made ricotta and truffle; octopus and potato with marinara, pimento, lemon aioli; chicken cutlet with house breading, parmesan, lemon; grilled artichoke with garlic aioli.

One online reviewer said Bar Rosina’s Caesar salad is “the best” she’s ever had.

They carry 11 kinds of New York-style pizza, eight pasta dishes and entrees such as center cut veal chop parmesan, Branzino, New York strip, and chicken scarpariello.

One reviewer said Bar Rosina, “Is a place I dream about now.”

“A fantastic restaurant where you walk in and immediately feel at home. The attention to detail is everywhere,” they wrote.

Another reviewer wrote the pasta was “delicate, yet firm,” with the most perfect juxtaposition of mouthfeel.”

Customers say Chef Jared and Blount are quick to engage them.

“These guys are the best,” the reviewer wrote.

In fact, the researchers found, the shift to teletherapy has exacerbated existing disparities.

The increase in psychotherapy has occurred among groups that already enjoyed more access: people in higher-income brackets, living in cities, with steady employment and more education, researchers found in a series of studies, the most recent of which was published last week in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Among those who have not benefited from the boom, the team found, are children from low-income families, Black children and adolescents, and adults with “serious psychological distress.”

“I think that the whole system of care — and maybe the internet delivery is a piece of this — appears to be pivoting away from those in greatest need,” said Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the lead author of the studies on access to care.

“We’re seeing that those with the greatest distress are losing ground, in terms of their likelihood of being treated, and that to me is a very important and disconcerting trend,” he added.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In the 1990s, teletherapy was championed as a way to reach disadvantaged patients living in remote locations where there were few psychiatrists. A decade later, it was presented as a more accessible alternative to face-to-face sessions, one that could radically lower barriers to care.

“Telehealth did not live up to the hype,” said C. Vaile Wright, senior director of the office of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association. The reasons, she added, are no surprise: Many Americans lack access to reliable broadband, and insurers do not adequately reimburse providers, who, in turn, choose to treat privately paying clients.

“If you can’t afford it, no matter the modality, you just can’t afford it,” Wright said. It may be, she added, that weekly therapy sessions are simply not scalable to a broad population and the field should explore light-touch alternatives, like single-session interventions and digital therapeutics.

As telehealth platforms grow, they may be attracting clinicians from community settings with the promise of flexible hours and better conditions, said Dr. Jane M. Zhu, an associate professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University who studies the accessibility of mental health services.

Selecting from a large patient pool, they may opt to treat patients with milder conditions and more ability to pay. “It’s certainly something we should know,” Zhu said. “There should be light around this. Who are these companies serving? And what does this mean for patients who are most in need?”

The percentage of Americans receiving psychotherapy remained relatively steady, at 3% to 4%, for decades before beginning a gradual rise, said Olfson.

Then two factors — the pandemic and the explosion of teletherapy — contributed to a sharp increase, with the number of adults receiving psychotherapy rising to 8.5% in 2021 from 6.5% in 2018. (By comparison, the annual percentage of adults taking psychotropic medication remained stable, at around 17.5%.)

Olfson said he was surprised by the magnitude of the increase. “We haven’t had something like COVID before, and we haven’t had this technology before,” Olfson said. “There was a lot of social isolation, a lot of loneliness. And those are things that psychotherapy is designed to address, in a way that medication can’t.”

The findings are based on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which is conducted by the federal government and measures how American civilians use and pay for health care. The survey does not include those in the military, incarcerated or in nursing homes, hospitals or homeless shelters.

Previous studies, based on insurance data, showed that Americans’ mental health spending increased by 54% from 2020 to 2022, amid a tenfold increase in the use of teletherapy.

The new studies flesh out which Americans are receiving the care. An analysis of 89,619 adults published in JAMA Psychiatry last month found psychotherapy use grew most among the youngest respondents, among the most educated and among those in the highest two income brackets.

An analysis of the use of telehealth by children and adolescents from 2,445 households reached similar conclusions. The study found that children from wealthier families, using private insurance, were far more likely to use teletherapy. Children in urban areas were nearly three times as likely to use it as their rural counterparts.

During the years of the pandemic, the use of mental health services by Black children and adolescents decreased, falling to 4% in 2021 from 9.2% in 2019. In the same period, the use of mental health care among white children rose, to 18.4% from 15.1%, the team found in another study.

“What we find is that it does appear to be just exacerbating existing disparities,” Olfson said. “I think there’s a real need to try to address that.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.