Oregon Fines Four Insurers For Denying Coverage For Autism Treatments

On March 2, 2017, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) fined four insurers for denying coverage of autism treatment, such as applied behavioral analysis (ABA), in violation of the state’s mental health parity law. DCBS imposed fines on Pioneer Educators Health Trust, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, United Healthcare Insurance Company, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest.

Oregon’s parity law was signed by the state legislature in 2005 and went into effect on January 1, 2007, making it one of the most comprehensively covered states in behavioral health. The law requires group health . . .