Is Your Insurance Company Breaking the Law?

Insurer violations of mental health parity laws can take many forms, including placing limits on how long and how often patients can receive care, providing insufficient networks of mental health providers, and more. Most people are unaware that a parity violation has even occurred. If you know what to watch out for, you will be better equipped to assert your rights. Click the image below to learn more about common parity violations and other important parity issues.

Click image to enlarge

Take Action

NEW! Help us spread the word with this new printable flyer that advocates and providers can use to help consumers understand patient rights to equal insurance coverage for mental health and addiction treatment.

Learn to File an Appeal – Insurers count on the fact that most people will not appeal denied claims or make an effort to challenge suspect managed-care practices. This is unacceptable. By learning to file an appeal, you will be taking the first step to holding your health plan accountable for equal access to mental health and addiction treatment services. Get started…

Tell Us Your Story – e must pressure elected officials, insurance commissioners, and attorneys general to enforce parity laws. The best way to do that is through data illustrating what families face each day. No one chooses to have a mental health or substance use disorder. Don’t tolerate discrimination. Access to care is your right, so add your story to our database. We may ask for your permission to share your story with news media or government officials to strengthen the case for parity enforcement.Get started…

For Providers

By empowering your patients to understand and assert their parity rights, you can help to spark a movement that pressures elected officials, insurance commissioners, and attorneys general to enforce parity laws. Download and print our provider tip sheet, and ‘Don’t Deny Me’ posters and brochures for your office. Here are the files you will need:

Provider Tip Sheet to Get Started

Office Flyer for Desktop Printing

Office Brochure for Professional Printing

Office Posters for Professional Printing

For Advocates

The Wit v. United Behavioral Health (UBH) ruling was a major milestone in the fight for mental health equity. Learn more here. We must use its powerful message to remind our nation’s large employers that they share a fiduciary responsibility to ensure plan compliance with the Federal Parity Law. We must also remind them of their moral responsibility to stop illegal denials of treatment coverage for their employees with mental health and substance use disorders. Please use our template to send letters to large employers in your state.

Instructions for Letter

Letter Template
(Note: when you click on this link a Microsoft Word document will automatically download to your computer)

Autism Community

A January 2022 Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act Congressional report from the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of the Treasury provided damning evidence that practices such as denying coverage for autism treatment are indeed commonplace (see coverage here). The Kennedy Forum—along with 53 other leading mental health organizations—subsequently called on Congress to pass civil monetary penalty authority for parity violations. Read the letter here. Autism advocates are encouraged to put pressure on their Senators and Representatives to fight for the authority as well.

For Unions

Equitable coverage of mental health and addiction care is critical both for union members and their dependents, just as it is for others. Unfortunately, despite the Federal Parity Law, regulatory actions, and numerous court decisions, health plans – including multiemployer defined benefit plans, Taft-Hartley plans, and multiple employer welfare arrangements – continue to deny coverage. Union leaders must help to ensure that the rights of their members are not be trampled. Review this issue brief to learn more and take action.

Having Trouble Finding
Culturally Competent Care?

According to Mental Health America, a culturally competent mental health system “incorporates skills, attitudes, and policies to ensure that it is effectively addressing the needs of consumers and families with diverse values, beliefs, and sexual orientations, in addition to backgrounds that vary by race, ethnicity, religion, and language.” If you are unable to find a culturally competent mental health care provider within your network of care, we’d like to hear from you. Your voice can help to shine a spotlight on this critical issue and spark change.

Spread the Word

Join us in creating a consumer-driven movement to demand parity rights and save lives. More and more frequently, families are being ripped apart by overdoses and suicides because their health plans failed them. Recovery from mental health and substance use disorders is possible with treatment. Let’s break down the barriers to care with one powerful voice. Share the image and message below to spread the word about Don’t Deny Me and empower others.

(Note: When you click on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn below, a zip file containing the five images featured on the rotating banner at the top of this page will automatically download to your computer.)

Message:

By law, most health plans must cover illnesses of the brain, such as depression or addiction, the same way they cover illnesses of the body, such as diabetes or cancer. Speak up about illegal denials of care! Learn more at www.DontDenyMe.org #DontDenyMe

Images:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn

Join the Campaign

Would your nonprofit like to receive a monthly Don’t Deny Me social media toolkit containing messages and accompanying image/video files for sharing on social media? Email bridget@thekennedyforum.org to sign up.