---
type: source
title: "Mental Health Parity Index: National Launch Data — 16-59% Reimbursement Gap, 43 States With Access Disparities"
author: "The Kennedy Forum, AMA, American Psychological Foundation, Ballmer Group, Third Horizon"
url: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/04/14/3272999/0/en/New-insurer-data-reveals-significant-gaps-to-in-network-mental-health-care-and-treatment-for-substance-use-disorders-when-compared-to-physical-health.html
date: 2026-04-14
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: press-release
status: unprocessed
priority: high
tags: [mental-health, parity, MHPAEA, reimbursement, access, insurance, Kennedy-Forum]
intake_tier: research-task
---

## Content

National launch of the Mental Health Parity Index by The Kennedy Forum, Third Horizon, American Medical Association, American Psychological Foundation, and Ballmer Group. Built on real-time data from America's four largest commercial health insurance companies (Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare) using in-network payer files.

**Access disparities:**
- 43 states show disparities in access to in-network mental health care and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment compared to physical health
- 7 in 10 counties face challenges finding in-network clinicians for MH/SUD treatment vs. physical health providers
- In-network access disparity ranges from **24% to 83%** difference for physical health vs. mental health clinicians

**Payment disparities:**
- ALL 50 states demonstrate lower payment for outpatient MH/SUD treatment than physical health
- Mental health and SUD clinicians receive **16% to 59% less** in payment compared to physical health clinicians nationwide across the four analyzed insurers

**State commitments:**
- Illinois was the first state to conduct deep-dive parity analysis using the Index
- New York State committed to examining in-depth metrics for its **11 million commercially insured** citizens (with support from NY Community Trust)

**Quotes:**
- Patrick Kennedy (co-founder, Kennedy Forum): "Mental health parity is about one simple promise: that mental health and addiction care are treated the same as any other medical care."
- AMA President Bobby Mukkamala, MD: "Patients deserve the same access to mental health and substance-use disorder services as they do for any other medical condition."
- Michelle Quist Ryder, PhD (APF CEO): "Transparency is a powerful first step in advancing parity across the nation while empowering providers and consumers to demand accountability."

**Federal enforcement context:** As of April 2026, federal health officials have indicated they will not enforce the parity law (Trump administration pause of 2024 MHPAEA Final Rule enforcement). The Index is creating a parallel transparency and accountability infrastructure.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** This provides the most precise quantification to date of the structural access gap. The 16-59% range (not a single number) reveals that the misalignment varies dramatically by insurer — some plans are near parity, others catastrophically out. This is the targeting data that enforcement mechanisms need. New York's commitment creates a second natural experiment (Illinois full enforcement vs. New York deep-dive analysis).

**What surprised me:** The range width — 16% to 59% reimbursement gap and 24% to 83% access gap. Session 32-33 tracked a 27.1% RTI/Kennedy Forum figure, but the Index reveals that's an average masking enormous insurer-to-insurer variation. Some insurers are 59% below parity — this is legally indefensible under MHPAEA regardless of enforcement pause.

**What I expected but didn't find:** State-specific enforcement actions triggered by the Index data. The Index was just launched (April 14), so specific state regulatory responses haven't materialized yet.

**KB connections:**
- the mental health supply gap is widening not closing — the 16-59% reimbursement gap is the causal mechanism explaining provider opt-out
- value-based care transitions stall at the payment boundary — same structural pattern: payment determines behavior, coverage mandates don't reach payment
- Three-level MHPAEA framework from Session 33 (Level 1: coverage design; Level 1.5: access metrics; Level 2: reimbursement rates)

**Extraction hints:**
- New claim candidate: "The Mental Health Parity Index reveals 16-59% reimbursement gap for MH/SUD vs physical health across 4 national insurers, with ALL 50 states showing payment disparities" — this is specific, quantified, and updates the existing 27.1% figure with a full distribution
- Possible enrichment of existing mental health supply gap claim with this reimbursement mechanism

**Context:** Kennedy Forum is the leading MH parity advocacy organization (Patrick Kennedy, former congressman who co-authored MHPAEA). This Index is explicitly designed to create enforcement pressure through transparency, compensating for federal enforcement withdrawal.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: the mental health supply gap is widening not closing — this is the causal mechanism (payment gap driving provider opt-out)
WHY ARCHIVED: Provides the most precise national quantification of the reimbursement gap to date, plus establishes insurer-level variation (16-59% range) as a new analytical dimension
EXTRACTION HINT: Focus on the range (16-59%, not just the 27.1% average), the ALL 50 STATES finding (universal, not regional), and New York's commitment as the emerging second natural experiment alongside Illinois
