New dashboard tracks mental health insurance gaps in Georgia

Georgians for a Healthy Future has launched a new centralized dashboard to help Georgians track issues with insurance coverage for mental health care claims. 

Under Georgia’s Mental Health Parity Act passed in 2022 and federal parity regulations, Georgia health insurers are required to cover mental health and substance-use conditions at the same rate as physical health conditions. 

The dashboard can help Georgians monitor how well their insurers comply with parity rules.

Whitney Griggs with Georgians for a Healthy Future told Georgia Public Broadcasting that several insurers receive “F” grades because they do not provide real-world data on consumer experiences.

“What they don’t show you is the experience of the consumer trying to get that mental health care,” Griggs said. “How hard is it for them to actually find a provider in their area? And that is measurable, and something that, until we have that information, we’ll never really know how consumers are fairing with the mental health parity law.” 

Most private insurers in Georgia do not follow standard templates for reporting making it harder to understand how coverage is applied.

In January, the state fined health insurance companies for nearly $25 million for violating Georgia’s Mental Health Parity laws.

“I said it before and I’ll say it again: insurance companies will not take advantage of consumers under my watch,” John King, Georgia’s Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, said in a statement. “These companies are not above the law, and I am taking definitive action to hold them accountable for denying Georgians the care they need.”

Georgians can file parity complaints through Georgia’s Department of Community Health website.