A statewide poll shows broad support among Pennsylvania voters for giving doctors, rather than insurance companies, the final say in mental-health treatment decisions.
The poll found 94% of voters support doctors making mental-health treatment decisions instead of insurers. It also found 85% support legislation to remove prior authorization requirements for medications used to treat serious mental illness.
Dr. Jeannine Lisitski, president and CEO of Mental Health Partnerships, said current insurance practices can delay care. She said the organization is especially concerned about step therapy and prior authorization requirements for people with serious mental-health conditions.
“The insurance company tells the physician that they must try certain maybe less effective or lower-level drugs before they're allowed to prescribe what they actually think would work,” Lisitski said.
Mental Health Partnerships serves five counties and nearly 12,000 people per year. The organization supports House Bill 1519, which is awaiting consideration in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The bill would prohibit prior authorization requirements for medications used to treat severe mental illness, with the goal of ensuring patients have timely access to treatments prescribed by their health-care providers.
Dr. Deepraj Singh, a psychiatrist for Mental Health Partnerships, said insurance delays often interfere with care. She said even when she prescribes what she believes is the best treatment, insurers may deny it and force patients to try less effective medications first, sometimes for months, while their condition does not improve.
Singh said the issue affects people across socioeconomic classes.
“We work with people who are homeless and chronically mentally ill, but I also see it with my private practice and other places that I work,” Singh said. “It can lead to a job loss for them in that meantime because they're not able to function at the appropriate level. They might lose custody of their child. It has real consequences.”
The poll also found 28% of voters report that they or someone in their household is affected by a mental health condition.
Advocates say delays can have serious consequences for people managing conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.
Source: Public News Service
