A New York state official says he is involved in an ongoing effort to enforce the state’s mental health parity law.
The official, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, has announced a settlement with MVP Health Care, a nonprofit carrier with about 500,000 enrollees.
A New York state parity law enacted in 2006 requires insurers to provide mental health coverage that is at least equal to the coverage provided for other health conditions, officials in Schneiderman’s office said in the settlement announcement.
The settlement agreement calls for MVP to change its behavioral health claims review process; cover residential treatment for conditions such as anorexia nervosa and substance abuse disorders; and charge a co-payment equal to the primary care co-payment for outpatient visits to most mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.
The agreement also calls for MVP to pay a $300,000 civil penalty.
Officials said that, before 2014, MVP did not cover residential treatment for behavioral health conditions but did cover skilled nursing care for health problems classified as medical problems.
MVP was about twice as likely to deny claims for behavioral health services as it was to deny other types of claims, officials said.