Dive Brief:
- The American Psychiatric Association has issued a letter warning the two proposed Anthem-Cigna and Humana-Aetna mergers would likely have a negative impact on access to mental healthcare services.
- The letter was sent to U.S. antitrust regulators as well as state insurance commissioners and state Attorneys General.
- It requested regulators consider the companies' networks and historical patterns in limiting access to care, arguing the networks were intentionally inadequate and likely to get worse.
Dive Insight:
The group argues in its letter the actions of the insurance industry to date suggest that by joining, they will strengthen their control over the purchase of psychiatric services. "Moreover, the merging of companies that have a demonstrated history of discrimination against individuals with mental illnesses will only exacerbate access to mental healthcare services in the United States," the letter states.
The group details four ways in which it says insurers already discriminate against mental health coverage:
- Maintaining misleading and inadequate provider networks;
- Controling the supply of available psychiatrists by discouraging network participation;
- Artificially limiting services by denying mental health claims more often than medical claims; and
- Diminishing the standard of psychiatric care through medical necessity criteria, quality initiatives and other methods.
Aetna spokeswoman Cynthia Michener told Reuters the company aims to impact the healthcare industry in such a way that "insurers, doctors and hospitals work together to lower costs and coordinate care to give people as many healthy days as possible."