Modern Healthcare (2/5, Meyer, Subscription Publication) reports the Congressional Budget Office determined that claims data show mental healthcare professionals in the networks of commercial and Medicare Advantage plans are paid lower rates than regular Medicare pays, “which likely reduces access for patients.” The CBO researchers analyzed the data from the Health Care Cost Institute and “found that average in-network rates for two categories of common mental health services in commercial and Medicare Advantage plans in 2014 were 13% to 14% less than fee-for-service rates in traditional Medicare.” State and federal law requires parity between physical and mental healthcare coverage, but lower rates of payment “could jeopardize those patient access gains, the authors said.”
Related Links:
— “Commercial plans’ lower rates for mental healthcare may reduce patient access, “Harris Meyer, Modern Healthcare, February 5, 2019