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July 2001 Office
of the Legislative Auditor
 Insurance for Behavioral
Health Care
In April 2000, the Legislative Audit Commission directed us to
study insurance coverage for behavioral health (mental health and
chemical dependency) services. Legislators were concerned about
allegations that private health plans were spending less on
behavioral health and, in a growing number of cases, refusing to
pay for needed mental health and chemical dependency services.
We found that private behavioral health spending has declined
as a percent of total health spending in recent years, but it has
still increased faster than inflation in Minnesota and the nation.
While many providers and consumer representatives told us that
insurance companies inappropriately deny coverage for behavioral
health services, we could not independently verify the extent of
the problem because of a lack of systematic data. Nevertheless,
insurers have an incentive to delay or deny coverage, and limited
evidence suggests that in some cases they may be shifting
responsibility for care to publicly funded "safety-net"
providers.
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