Finding mental health care—especially care covered by insurance—is tough, despite the fact that since 2008 insurers have been required to cover it, according to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

In fact, a finding covered and accessible care in a reasonable amount of time is so difficult that it has reportedly contributed to a fall in U.S. life expectancy over the last three years.

Recognizing the relationship between mental and physical health, insurers are starting to be more active in finding ways to increase access to mental health services. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has taken the step of dealing with a shortage of mental health practitioners in its coverage area by awarding $560,000 in funding to the Arizona Department of Health Services' State Loan Repayment Program to help recruit health care professionals.

In addition, health care technology and services company Quartet announced a new round of Series D funding, to the tune of some $60 million, as well as a strategic partnership with Medicaid provider Centene Corporation “to ensure the most vulnerable populations have access to mental health care.”

“Through deepening our partnership with Quartet, we are focused on ensuring that people in all communities can access the care they need,” said Jesse Hunter, chief strategy officer for Centene. “We are pleased to work with Quartet and other health care innovators to advance the role technology and services can play to improve the integration of mental health and primary care.”

In Arizona, the way the SLRP works is to helps recruit and retain health care professionals in areas that need them the most—such as rural communities, which have a large shortage of mental health professionals—by repaying a provider's qualifying educational loans in exchange for a two-year commitment to provide services in federally designated Health Profession Shortage Areas or Arizona Medically Underserved Areas. According to the report, in a two-year period, BCBSAZ's funds will help support five additional mental health providers, as well as and ensure the providers remain practicing in any of Arizona's 176 mental HPSAs.

For its part, Quartet provides a HIPAA-compliant technology platform that supports collaborative care teams at the local level. Physicians get the data and resources to better identify patients who may have underlying mental health conditions, and are able to “easily connect their patients to a trusted network of mental health providers.”

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Insurers turning attention to mental health

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