The Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage, an advocacy alliance of 17 national, leading trade associations representing employers of all sizes, issued a statement in support of expanding access to behavioral and mental health care services through telehealth for a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.

P4ESC noted in the statement that “[t] he pandemic has offered employees the ability to receive behavioral and mental health care services via telemedicine, and we strongly support making this access permanent,” and “… time is ripe to modernize laws to increase access to telehealth services as patients, health providers, and coverage plan sponsors continue to adapt to and comply with remote working and social distancing measures.”

The Coalition further noted that access to behavioral and mental health providers is an on-going problem for employees and employers alike that needs to be address. "Employers and employees face challenges in finding available and affordable behavioral and mental health care providers. Some behavioral and mental health providers – particularly those in rural areas – decline to participate in health insurance networks. In the case of most self-insured plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), employers rent insurance carriers’ provider networks. The decision to join a network lies with the provider, subject to network standards."

The full statement is linked HERE.