November 7, 2024
On November 1, Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s Attorney General, reached a settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Minnesota to make mental health services more accessible to all Minnesotans.
The settlement is the result of a multi-years-long investigation into BCBS’s compliance, or lack thereof, with Minnesota’s mental health parity laws requiring parity between the provision of mental and behavioral health services and physical health services. The investigation found that BCBS may not have entirely complied with the requirements of the mental health parity laws.
The settlement resolves the investigation and requires BCBS to:
1) “make decisions about the vast majority of requests for prior authorization for behavioral health services within 5 days,”
2) “approve or deny a behavioral health provider’s request to join Blue Cross’ network within 45 days,”
3) “implement initiatives to increase behavioral healthcare access and provide data to the Attorney General’s Office to evaluate the success of those initiatives,”
4) pay a consultant selected by the Attorney General’s Office who will review and ensure that BCBS is not imposing more restrictive limitations on mental health benefits than on medical or surgical benefits,
5) “respond within 30 days to any complaint about behavioral health parity submitted to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.” Complaints can be submitted to the Attorney General’s Office through the office’s consumer complaint form: File a Complaint.
In addition, BCBS will contribute $600,000 to Minnesota State University-Mankato for use by the Center for Rural Behavioral Health. BCBS also agreed to a stayed civil penalty in the amount of $300,000 which will be paid to the state of Minnesota if they are found to have violated the terms of the settlement, which lasts until December 31, 2028.
July 31, 2025
The MMA has signed on to an AMA letter opposing HR 3164, the “Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services (ECAPS) Act,” in particular because it would allow “pharmacists to perform services that would normally only be authorized and covered if they were furnished by a physician.”
July 31, 2025
Nearly 140,000 Minnesotans will lose their healthcare coverage as a result of President Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, according to a preliminary analysis by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS).
July 31, 2025
MMA members are encouraged to cast their vote for MMA’s future leaders as part of the annual MMA leadership election taking place August 1-31.