---
type: source
title: "DOL Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Settlement: $28.3M for Mental Health Access Failures, Outcome-Based Corrective Actions"
author: "U.S. Department of Labor (EBSA)"
url: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20260210
date: 2026-02-10
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: report
status: processed
processed_by: vida
processed_date: 2026-05-01
priority: high
tags: [mental-health-parity, MHPAEA, enforcement, network-adequacy, wait-times, Kaiser, DOL, outcome-based]
intake_tier: research-task
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) reached a settlement with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. in February 2026:

- **$28.3M minimum** reimbursement to California employer plan members who paid for out-of-network MH/SUD services after failing to access in-network care
- **$2.8M penalty** to federal government
- Settlement covers Kaiser Foundation Health Plan members in California with employer-based coverage after January 1, 2021
- Coverage period extended one additional year beyond the original investigation period

**Allegations:**
- Kaiser did not maintain adequate provider networks for mental health and substance use disorder care
- Kaiser used patient responses to questionnaires to improperly prevent patients from receiving care (improper prior authorization gatekeeping)

**Required outcome-based reforms:**
1. Reduce appointment wait times (explicit wait time reduction requirement)
2. Improve care review processes to ensure members receive medically necessary care
3. Monitor network adequacy to ensure members have access to MH/SUD providers and facilities

**Context:** The investigation covered a period that ended in 2023. This case was initiated under Biden-era EBSA enforcement and finalized under the Trump administration in February 2026 — the same period the Trump administration paused the 2024 MHPAEA Final Rule enforcement (May 2025). The settlement uses access metrics (wait times, network adequacy) as corrective action targets — distinct from the 2024 rule's outcome data evaluation requirements.

Sources: [DOL EBSA press release](https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ebsa/ebsa20260210), [Healthcare Dive](https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/kaiser-reaches-settlement-dol-alleged-mental-healthcare-access-failures/812024/), [PLANSPONSOR](https://www.plansponsor.com/kaiser-to-pay-28m-in-mental-health-care-settlement-with-dol/), [BenefitsPro](https://www.benefitspro.com/2026/02/11/kaiser-agrees-to-32m-dol-behavioral-health-parity-settlement/)

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** The Kaiser settlement demonstrates that OUTCOME-BASED enforcement (wait times, network adequacy requirements) is operationally feasible even under the current regulatory framework — WITHOUT requiring the 2024 Final Rule's paused outcome data evaluation provisions. This creates a nuance in my previous finding that the Trump administration was weakening enforcement: it's more complex. The Trump DOL is executing on Biden-era investigations using access metrics, while refusing to initiate new enforcement of the 2024 rule's broader outcome data requirements.

**What surprised me:** The settlement corrective actions use ACCESS METRICS (wait times, network adequacy) as enforcement targets — this is "level 1.5" enforcement in the two-level access problem framework. It bridges process compliance (level 1) and reimbursement rate enforcement (level 2). I didn't expect the Trump DOL to finalize this kind of outcome-based enforcement given the May 2025 enforcement pause announcement.

**What I expected but didn't find:** I expected the settlement to be purely retrospective (reimbursement) without forward-looking outcome requirements. The forward-looking corrective actions (reduce wait times, monitor network adequacy) are more aggressive than a typical settlement.

**KB connections:** Enriches the MHPAEA two-level access problem framework. The Kaiser settlement addresses level 1.5 (access metrics) but still doesn't address level 2 (reimbursement rate differential). Connects to mental health supply gap is widening not closing... and the MHPAEA enforcement analysis from Sessions 31-32.

**Extraction hints:**
1. Claim: "MHPAEA enforcement is bifurcating under Trump: outcome-based enforcement of pre-2024 investigations continues while the 2024 Final Rule's systematic outcome data evaluation requirements remain paused"
2. Evidence for existing MHPAEA structural mechanism claim — the settlement confirms provider network adequacy failures are real and measurable
3. Possible enrichment: the corrective actions (reduce wait times) show that access metrics CAN be required by enforcement — but only case-by-case, not systematically

**Context:** Kaiser Foundation Health Plan is the largest non-profit HMO in the US. This settlement affects their California employer-plan members — a major payer's network inadequacy publicly documented and remedied. Kaiser is also one of the 22 insurers named in Georgia's $25M MHPAEA fine (Session 32), showing pattern of parity violations across enforcement contexts.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: mental health supply gap is widening not closing because demand outpaces workforce growth and technology primarily serves the already-served rather than expanding access
WHY ARCHIVED: Documents outcome-based enforcement (wait times, network adequacy) as operationally feasible under Trump DOL — complicates the "Trump weakening enforcement" narrative. The settlement finalized under Trump but investigated under Biden creates a nuanced enforcement posture.
EXTRACTION HINT: The corrective action requirements (reduce wait times, monitor network adequacy) are the key extractable finding — this is outcome-based enforcement at level 1.5. Distinguish clearly from the 2024 Final Rule's paused outcome data evaluation requirements (which would operate at level 2).
