Kaiser Reaches $30M Settlement With Labor Department Over Mental Healthcare Practices

The U.S. Department of Labor said it has settled with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan to resolve multiple investigations into the company’s practices on mental health and substance use disorder services.

The agreement resolves allegations that Kaiser failed to maintain adequate provider networks for mental health and substance use disorder care, and improperly used patient responses to questionnaires to deny care, the Labor Department said in its statement.

Kaiser did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Under the settlement agreement, Kaiser will compensate at least $28 million for the costs its members incurred when seeking out-of-network mental health and substance use disorder services.

It will also pay a $2.8 million penalty to the federal government.

Kaiser has also agreed to reform company policies by reducing appointment wait times and improving care review processes to ensure members receive medically necessary care, according to the Labor Department.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)