KFF Health News October 20, 2025
Companies running private Medicare and Medicaid insurance plans inaccurately list many mental health professionals as being available to treat the plans’ members, a new federal watchdog report says.
The investigators allege that some insurers effectively set up “ghost networks” of psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals who purportedly have agreed to treat patients covered by the publicly financed Medicare and Medicaid plans. In fact, many of those professionals do not have contracts with the plans, do not work at the locations listed, or are retired, the investigators said.
The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the giant Medicare and Medicaid health programs, released its findings in a recent report.
The report...
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