Insurance barriers restrict patients' access to mental health treatment

Firms using mental health treatment records to deny claims for unrelated medical conditions

- UNNIKRISHNAN S @T'Puram

INSURANCE companies are increasingly using patients' mental health treatment records to deny them claims for unrelated medical conditions. Treatments for conditions like depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are being used as reasons to reject insurance claims for procedures such as cataract or heart surgeries.

The practice has sparked opposition, especially after actor Archana Kavi shared her own struggles with a claim denial. Hospitals known for mental health services are witnessing a wave of complaints from patients over claim denials, despite the fact that the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, mandates equal treatment for mental and physical illnesses.

The trend not only deepens the stigma surrounding psychiatric care but also discourages people from seeking help or disclosing their mental health struggles.