Bravo to both CBS’s “60 Minutes” and to Behavioral Health Magazine for highlighting the blatant violation of the parity laws by insurance companies when it comes to compensating behavioral health care providers. Here is a snippet from that article:
Although the mental health parity law went into effect in 2009, patients and providers are still fighting systemic inequity. A report this week on the television show “60 Minutes” documented several patients who needed longer-term inpatient care but were categorically denied that level of coverage by commercial insurers, sometimes resulting in distress leading to suicide. The show singled out giant national insurer Anthem and sparked more industry discussion about how parity is applied in practice.
In quantifying the denials, the show’s investigators found that among 11 authorization reviewers contracted by Anthem, the average denial rate was above 90%. One reviewer in particular, Timothy Jack, MD, was said to earn as much as $25,000 per month doing medical reviews for Anthem from his home and is well known by providers to deny coverage for intensive behavioral health services pretty much all the time.
Here is the full article from Editor-in-Chief Julie Miller: http://www.behavioral.net/blogs/julie-miller/evidence-parity-misdeeds-starting-pile?utm_source=SilverpopVG&utm_medium=eml&utm_campaign=BH%20eNews%2012-19-14&utm_content=&spMailingID=47663913&spUserID=MTAxODYxNjE3MzQxS0&spJobID=583609675&spReportId=NTgzNjA5Njc1S0
Here is the link to the 60 Minutes piece: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/denied/
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