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Department of Insurance examines, fines Highmark

Delaware Public Media

The Delaware Department of Insurance releases its first of its latest Mental Health Parity examinations. It finds a list of compliance issues following Highmark’s examination.

Highmark’s exam is the first in a series of followup reviews under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

The Department of Insurance is requiring Highmark to follow a corrective action plan and pay a fine of $329 thousand.

Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro said the Department carried out the first round of exams a few years ago.

“It's very clear that they did make progress from the first exam, but they have a ways to go,” Navarro said. “So with respect to the corrective action plan, we just hope that Highmark will fix the problems.”

According to Navarro, it’s important to treat all types of health care equally.

“It's the law, and it's critically important that people who are in these situations – crisis situations, in many cases – have the ability to seek treatment and not have to worry about whether or not an insurance company would cover them on par as if they were suffering from a different illness.”

Navarro noted the latest exam found several repeat offenses by Highmark and there will be another examination in the future.

“We treat mental health and substance abuse issues on par with other illnesses, because that's the law and because that's the right thing to do… Folks who have been diagnosed with these types of illnesses are not unlike people who are diagnosed with diabetes or some other illness.”

The Department of Insurance has not yet released other insurers’ examinations.

With degrees in journalism and women’s and gender studies, Abigail Lee aims for her work to be informed and inspired by both.

She is especially interested in rural journalism and social justice stories, which came from her time with NPR-affiliate KBIA at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

She speaks English and Russian fluently, some French, and very little Spanish (for now!)
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