America deeply cares about mental wellness, and this was evidenced by the passage of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), otherwise known as the Federal Parity Law, in October 2008. It was in response to the mounting cases of behavioral illness in the United States, many of which led to drug overdose and suicides. The act was designed to arrest unnecessary sufferings and deaths but there were stumbling blocks, and one goes by the name of Centene.
Centene, a Fortune 500 company, is in the health insurance business. It was supposed to be an active participant in the noble healthcare ecosystem, but Centene has other priorities than serving the people. Going by its record in recent years, Centene conducts its business with one thing in mind – profit over people’s welfare.
And Centene, through its California subsidiary Health Net, has been hurting a lot of people lately.
A Mother’s Losing Battle To Save Her Son
A case in point is that of DeeDee Tillitt, whose son Max was trying to overcome heroin abuse and was halfway into defeating the addiction. Max was dealing with his condition with the help of a competent treatment center, and his progress was characterized as encouraging. According to Tillitt, Max’s stay in the center was cut short because his insurance provider refused to cover further treatment.
With the sudden decision made by the insurer, mom and son had no choice but to leave the treatment center. In just over two months, Max’s progress during treatment was reversed entirely, and he died of an overdose. Heartbroken, Tillitt was convinced her son was a victim of gross injustice, and she vowed to make things right.
Tillitt was soon on the warpath, and along the way, she made the startling discovery that her son’s suffering was not an isolated case. She filed a lawsuit in 2016, and it turned out that the insurance provider she’s running after has been dealing with similar cases in California and Arizona. It became clear to Tillitt that Centene and Health Net have been in defiance of the Federal Parity Law.
Centene Has No Love For Mental Treatment Centers
Also, Tillitt and her pack wanting to bring Centene to justice, found out that the insurer discriminates deliberately against mental treatment centers. The company subjects them to thorough audits and almost automatic rejection of payment claims. There were instances that claims were approved, but Centene only allowed partial payment, which essentially was underpayment. Sure enough, the facilities that the giant insurer singled out crumbled under extreme financial pressure, and they were forced to shut down.
As a result, patients absorbed the full impact of Centene’s callous policy with the facilities shuttered. The company disrupted or even halted the operations of hundreds of behavioral health centers in California and Arizona. Ensuing probes revealed Centene took the course of action to recover the losses incurred in the immediate aftermath of its merger with Health Net in March 2016.
The world soon learned that Centene’s takeover of Health Net was a monumental misstep, an action sanctioned by CEO Michael Neidorff. The insurer stumbled, and Neidorff set out to mitigate the financial losses but at the expense of unsuspecting mental care providers and thousands of patients.
