Equitable access to high-quality behavioral health care remains a challenge in the United States, despite efforts to improve coverage parity and network adequacy. A 2023 white paper by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) highlighted issues with the inconsistently defined behavioral health workforce, which includes diverse provider types with varying scopes of practice. These variations have historically excluded qualified providers from health plan networks, limiting access to care and creating undue administrative burden and financial stress for the existing workforce. Addressing these challenges is essential for strengthening provider networks and ensuring equitable access to behavioral health services. This issue brief provides an overview of the consequences of the inconsistently defined behavioral health workforce for access to behavioral health services and offers recommendations for future steps to improve behavioral health network adequacy.
This work is supported by The Sozosei Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Otsuka. The Foundation’s primary focus is to eliminate the use of jails and prisons for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness by improving access to mental health care in communities. Visit www.sozoseifoundation.org to learn more.
