Three years after the strengthening of the California Parity Act, which mandates insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments, issues with its implementation were discussed at a recent meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health & Addiction Compliance with California’s Mental Health Parity Law. State Senator Scott Wiener, committee chairman, emphasized the need for mental health and addiction disorder treatment to be on par with medical treatment in terms of insurance coverage.
The committee did not take any specific action during the meeting, with State Senator Dave Cortese expressing a desire to gather information for potential future legislation on the matter.
Testimonies were heard from various stakeholders, including health care providers, government officials, and a patient who had experiences with mental health care. One patient, Rebecca Farmer, shared her challenges in accessing care from Kaiser Permanente, highlighting long wait times and difficulties in securing services.
Karen Larsen, CEO of The Steinberg Institute, referred to a recent $50 million settlement with Kaiser, which included an overhaul of its behavioral health system and a $150 million investment in behavioral health programs over five years. The California Department of Managed Health Care had cited Kaiser over the years for oversight issues, leading to enforcement actions.
Many speakers criticized the department for failing to protect consumer health care rights and for having arbitrary regulations. They argued that the department has neglected to release results of parity investigations.
Despite the passing of Senate Bill 855, which significantly overhauled mental health parity law, Mary Watanabe, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, reported that her department is still developing regulations to ensure compliance with the law. The public comment period for these regulations recently ended, with hopes that they will become effective in April. Watanabe also noted that her department has helped people avoid paying $4.2 million in balance billing, but admitted that the complex nature of these cases often requires more staff to address.
The hearing underscored the need for strong and continuous oversight to ensure that people receive the mental health care they need and that regulations for Senate Bill 855 are effectively implemented.
