McKnight's December 7, 2022
Members of the Senate Finance Committee have put the final touches on proposed policies that aim to improve mental health coverage parity under Medicare and Medicaid.
A final discussion draft, released late last week, would put mental health coverage on par with that of beneficiaries’ physical health coverage, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and colleagues said. The senators cited constituent concerns about so-called ghost networks — listings of physicians who are unavailable to provide care.
Evidence of this issue of access to providers has been growing. A Government Accountability Office report published in March cited a study that found wrong phone numbers for about one fifth of psychiatrists, and another 21% who weren’t taking any new patients, FierceHealthcare...