The legislation would give state regulators authority to fine insurers if their lists of in-network doctors and hospitals are out of date.
CALIFORNIA, USA — Over the years, licensed therapist Sarah Soroken has heard from her patients again and again about what a miserable experience it can be to find a mental health provider who actually takes their insurance. But one patient stands out.
Soroken said she was working at Kaiser’s Vallejo Medical Center in 2022 when a college-aged woman was admitted to the hospital’s emergency room after she attempted suicide.
The patient, Soroken said, gave up and tried to take her own life after she called a list of 50 mental-health providers who were listed as taking Kaiser’s insurance plan, but none would see her, or they didn’t actually take her insurance.
“This patient now has the traumas of a suicide attempt and having been harmed by our health care system …