Minnesota health insurance regulators are hitting UnitedHealthcare with a fine of $450,000 for their alleged failure to comply with mental health insurance equity laws. This comes after a consent order settlement was reached with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
Assistant Commissioner of Enforcement Jacqueline Olson says her team found that the insurer over-scrutinized claims for mental health-related care.
"Our consent order at its core alleges that United Healthcare treated mental health care differently and evaluated mental health and substance abuse claims more stringently than claims for other types of care," Olson says.
She adds that holding United Healthcare accountable is key to setting industry standards.
"The goal is really to make an impact on the industry and try to help ensure that Minnesotans have the access to the health care they need," Olson explains.
As a part of the deal regulators will monitor UnitedHealthcare until March 31st of next year. A consent order brought about by the Minnesota Department of Commerce was recently settled and requires the company to reevaluate it's policies and procedures.
Olson says an investigation found that UnitedHealthcare made it harder for patients to get their mental health care services covered by insurance.
"Our overall goal is to sort of identify and reduce barriers that make mental health care more difficult to access than other care," says Olson. "So our actions against these large insurance companies are with that goal in mind."
Regulators will also monitor the insurer for the next year to ensure compliance.