New York Attorney General Settlement With MVP & ValueOptions

On March 5, 2015, the New York Attorney General'’s office announced a settlement with managed behavioral health company Beacon Health Options (formerly known as ValueOptions) in which Beacon will reform its claims review process and pay a $900,000 penalty. The settlement with Beacon is an outcome of the Attorney General’s settlements in 2014 with two major New York health insurers, MVP Health Care and EmblemHealth, over mental health parity violations. Both insurers contract with Beacon to administer behavioral health benefits. An investigation by the Attorney General’'s Health Care Bureau found that ValueOptions issued denials twice as . . .