In California, there's a troubling lack of transparency regarding how often insurers deny mental health care, particularly as rates of mental health issues rise among children and young adults. Health policy expert Keith Humphreys highlighted that subjective diagnoses like depression are more easily denied than objective ailments like fractures. To address this, Senator Wiener's proposal mandates that insurers report denial data and outcomes of appeals, imposing hefty fines on those with high denial overturn rates. If enacted, this legislation would affect approximately 12.8 million Californians, although it would exclude certain groups.
"We think it's unacceptable that the state has absolutely no idea how big of a problem this is," said Lishaun Francis, senior director of behavioral health for the advocacy group Children Now, a sponsor of the bill.
Under Wiener's proposal, private insurers would be required to submit detailed data about denials and appeals, and insurers whose denials are overturned more than half the time would face staggering penalties.
According to Keith Humphreys, a health policy professor at Stanford University, it's easier to deny mental health care because a diagnosis of, say, depression can be more subjective than that of a broken limb or cancer.
A survey by NORC at the University of Chicago revealed that 7 in 10 people said they believed denials for health coverage were driven by profits.
#mental-health #insurance-denials #california-legislation #healthcare-policy #childrens-mental-health
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