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The Kennedy Forum launched the Mental Health Parity Index to track the availability of in-network mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) clinicians and their payment rates compared to that for physical health care, based on data from the four largest commercial insurance plans.
The findings:
- In-network access: In 43 states and 70% of counties, enrollees face potential disparities in finding in-network MH/SUD care relative to physical health care. There is a 24-83% difference between in-network access to physical health clinicians and MH/SUD treatment.
- Payment rates: When benchmarked to Medicare payment rates, most clinicians providing MH/SUD care are paid less than clinicians providing physical health care. All states have lower payment levels for outpatient MH/SUD care than for outpatient physical health care. On average, there is a 16-59% difference between payment for clinicians who provide MH/SUD treatment and physical health clinicians.
The main point: Physical health care clinicians have higher payment rates and are more widely available than MH/SUD providers. Despite parity laws that require physical and MH/SUD care to be treated similarly by insurance, major disparities and gaps in access to MH/SUD care remain.
Read more: New insurer data reveals significant gaps to in-network mental health care and treatment for substance use disorders when compared to physical health; Mental Health
Published
April 2026