Insurance companies covered telehealth before the pandemic, but the rules were complicated and strict. The provider had to be in an office and so did the patient. It had to be done over special platforms, not just a plain old telephone. Most of the insurers the center deals with have adopted recent changes for the reimbursement of telehealth services.
Read MoreOne cooperative that insures cities across the state recently raised premiums by 9 percent.
Read MoreSome contend the contracts harm patients and worsen the provider shortage, but hospitals say they keep the costs of health care down.
Read MoreUnitedHealth Group is rejecting some demands of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of being too stingy in its coverage of mental health care.
Read MoreIn February, a federal judge in California ruled the Minnetonka-based health insurer denied claims for behavioral health care based on overly restrictive guidelines that put profit over patients. Now, in a proposed remedy, the plaintiffs' attorneys want UnitedHealth to adopt new guidelines and take another look.
Read More50,000 are people challenging UnitedHealth's standards for behavioral care. U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero recently ripped the Twin Cities-based insurer for placing an "excessive emphasis" on paying for treatments during a crisis while ignoring "effective treatment of ... underlying conditions."
Read MoreMental health care in schools, mental health grants for children and adults, and eliminating the use of solitary confinement for people with mental illness are among the bills mental health advocates are pushing in the Legislature this session.
Read MoreIn what could prove to be a landmark case, a federal judge in Northern California ruled this week that a subsidiary of Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group violated its responsibilities to patients with mental health and substance use disorder needs.
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