Independence Blue Cross Expands Behavioral Health Coverage to Address Inequities

mental health © Rawpixel.com - stock.adobe.com

Independence Blue Cross (IBX) has broadened its behavioral health coverage by offering extended mental health support and substance abuse treatment to improve whole health equity, according to a news release published Tuesday. This expansion announcement follows the recent final ruling for Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which mandates that mental health and substance abuse disorders should be covered at the same level as physical health benefits.

IBX also encourages all healthcare providers to offer compensated depression screenings for all patients, not just providers in the behavioral health field.

This expansion includes access to 6,700 behavioral health providers offering appointments in person and virtually in the Philadelphia five-county region. More than 500 of these practitioners are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC). The top two languages they speak are Spanish and Russian, which are the two most requested languages by IBX customers.

Virtual care expansion includes the addition of “Connect to Care” navigators who help patients with appointment scheduling and intake. Connect to Care navigators direct IBX members to the appropriate service group and type of provider, including:

• Behavioral Health Case Managers: A team group of registered nurses, social workers and counselors.
• Behavioral Health Customer Care Advocates and Licensed Behavioral Health professionals: These professionals work together to provide screening and conduct risk assessments
• Clinical Triage Team: High risk IBX members are set up directly with this team, which provides live support and follow ups to ensure safety.

Care navigation services are available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and patients have access to approximately 4,000 open appointments available every month. Most appointments can be made within seven days. Between April 2023 and June 2024, more than 20,000 members accessed care with the help of these navigators.

“Health care is complex and navigating care can be overwhelming,” said Diana Lehman, B.S.N., R.N., vice president of Case and Condition Management at Independence Blue Cross. “This is especially true for people who are dealing with a mental health or substance use disorder condition.”

Fully enrolled IBX members can receive additional help from Quartet Health, a service that can match members with mental health services covered by in their network.

The company also provides access to the Shatterproof Treatment Atlas tool, which allows patients to search and compare addiction treatment facilities. Mental health coaching will be available 24/7 through the Teladoc mobile app.

Related: The Silver Linings of the Pandemic Playbook: Telehealth, 'Whole-Person Health,' per Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D., M.P.H., of Independence Blue Cross