MN Attorney General’s Settlement with BCBS Will Improve Access to Mental Health Services

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.