California Gov. Gavin Newsom took advantage of an opportunity to follow up on a stated desire to improve the state of mental health in his state, signing a bill that took its cue from a court decision.
Newsom has signed Senate Bill 855, which will require every health insurer in the state along with behavioral health management organizations to rely on evidence-based treatment guidelines rather than financial considerations, the American Medical Association (AMA) reported. The new reform will got into effect at the beginning of the new year after near unanimous passage through the state House and Senate.
“This law sets a new precedent for all other states to protect patients with a mental illness or substance use disorder,” Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A., AMA immediate past president and chair of the AMA Opioid Task Force said, the AMA reported. “Not having to fight insurance companies to use the generally accepted standards of care for our patients will improve treatment and save lives.”
The bill strengthens the state’s mental health parity statute, Sierra Sun Times reported. The legislation builds on the governor’s efforts to improve the state’s behavioral health delivery system and provide better help to state residents suffering from mental illness. The governor formed the Behavioral Health Task Force to address the state’s urgent mental health and substance abuse disorder needs.
The law took some of the more important findings from the Wit vs. United Behavioral Healthcare federal court decision in which the court took United Behavioral Healthcare to task for placing financial considerations above that of the patient’s health and well-being from 2011 to 2017 in four states.
“[The Court finds that during the class period UBH violated the laws of Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Texas by failing to apply criteria that were in compliance with the laws of those states for making coverage determinations relating to substance use disorders treatment,” the American Medical Association reported.
While the decision only dealt with United Behavioral Healthcare, California’s law will apply to all, the American Medical Association reported.
