Mental health access in New York

Health Care & Insurance

Across the state, New York communities are struggling to access mental health care, which has only become more difficult amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic began, hundreds of inpatient psychiatric beds have been eliminated, converted to COVID-related or general medical use, or have been completely taken out of commission. This year, it is estimated that there are fewer than 5,000 adult short-term inpatient psychiatric beds in hospitals across the state, which is 96.5 percent fewer beds than in the 1960s.

As New York is dealing with a crisis in mental health care, New York Attorney General Letitia James has held in-person public hearings to examine the accessibility of mental health care for New Yorkers with serious mental illness across the state.

Topics covered

Health plans’ provider directories

New York public hearing

Western New York public hearing

Resources

Inaccurate and inadequate: Health plans’ provider directories for mental health networks

Health plans’ provider directories report

Why the Attorney General James did this study

Three million New Yorkers live with mental illness. One-third do not get the treatment they need. A major reason is that they cannot find a mental health provider who accepts their insurance. When consumers call providers listed on their health plan’s website, they often find that the information is wrong or that the provider is not accepting new patients. These misleading network directories are known as “ghost networks.”

What the Attorney General James found

To investigate this problem, the Attorney General James conducted a statewide “secret shopper” survey of 13 health plans. Our staff called providers listed on the health plans’ directories as if they were consumers looking for treatment. Out of almost 400 calls, we found that only 14 percent offered an appointment for in-network care. This means that 86 percent of the listed, in-network mental health providers were ghosts: unreachable, not in-network, or not accepting new patients:

These results show that mental health care is inaccessible to many New Yorkers and that health plans do not comply with laws that require them to:

have accurate online provider directories
have enough in-network providers for members to receive timely care nearby
cover mental health treatment the same way as they cover physical health

This harms consumers’ health and costs them more.

The Attorney General James' recommendations

To make urgently needed mental health care available to patients:

Health plans must be required to audit their networks of mental health providers to confirm that people can get timely treatment. Regulators must then post the results on a website so consumers can see how plans are doing.
Regulators must vigorously enforce the law, fining health plans that fail to comply.
Health plans should actively recruit mental health providers, especially from communities of color.
Health plans must pay higher reimbursement rates to attract additional providers.

To file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office about your health plan’s network of mental health providers, contact the Health Care Bureau helpline: 1-800-428-9071 or file an online complaint form for a health care issue.

New York City public hearing

June 22, 2022

Attorney General Letitia James held an in-person hearing with affected individuals and family members, advocacy groups, health care providers, elected officials, and government agencies about the challenges accessing mental health care in New York.

Read transcript of New York City public hearing

Read written testimony of New York City public hearing

Western New York public hearing

January 18, 2023

Attorney General Letitia James held an in person hearing with affected individuals and family members, advocacy groups, health care providers, elected officials, and government agencies about the challenges accessing mental health care in New York.

Read transcript of western New York public hearing

Judy Bassette, Recovery International - Grand Island
Read Judy Bassette's testimony

Tracy Bradshaw, Boys & Girls Clubs Collaboration of WNY - Buffalo
Read Tracy Bradshaw's testimony

Victoria Brooks, Erie County Medical Center - Buffalo
Read Victoria Brooks' testimony

Irving Campbell, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) - Queens
Read Irving Campbell's testimony

Frank Cerny, The Rural Outreach Center - East Aurora
Read Frank Cerny's testimony

Melinda DuBois, Mental Health Advocates of Western New York - Buffalo
Read Melinda DuBois' testimony

Shannon Higbee, Recovery Options Made Easy - Gowanda
Read Shannon Higbee's testimony

Craig Johnson, Consortium of Addiction Services and Supports, Region II, Rochester
Read Craig Johnson's testimony

Kimberly Hubert-Bickel, NAMI Buffalo & Erie County / Save the Michaels of the World / Anchoring Hope of NY - Newfane
Read Kimberly Hubert-Bickel's testimony

Cindy Lee, OLV Human Services - Lackawanna
Read Cindy Lee's testimony

Bianca Logan, Young Leaders and Advocates Network - Buffalo
Read Bianca Logan's testimony

Patrick Lyons, NYS Public Employees Federation - Albany
Read Patrick Lyons' testimony

Bridget McNally, Erie County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) - Buffalo
Read Bridget McNally's testimony

Elizabeth McPartland, Child & Family Services of Erie County - Buffalo
Read Elizabeth McPartland's testimony

Jane Mogavero, Patrick P. Lee Foundation - Williamsville
Read Jane Mogavero's testimony

Susan Parker, Chautauqua County Legislator - Fredonia
Read Susan Parker's testimony

Mark Polancarz, Erie County Executive
Read Mark Polancarz's testimony

Harvey Rosenthal, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services - Albany
Read Harvey Rosenthal's testimony

Victoria Ross, WNY Peace Center - Buffalo
Read Victoria Ross' testimony

Adam Selon, Restoration Society, Inc. – Buffalo
Read Adam Selon's testimony

Laura Shriver-Brown, Resource Wellness Group - Buffalo
Read Laura Shriver-Brown's testimony

Vanessa Tirone, Psychological Association of Western New York - Buffalo
Read Vanessa Tirone's testimony

Brandy Tomlinson, Disability Rights New York - Rochester
Read Brandy Tomlinson's testimony

Jeff Tomlinson, NYS Occupational Therapy Association - Chester
Read Jeff Tomlinson's testimony

Carmen Torres, The Children's Agenda, Parent Leadership Manager - Rochester
Read Carmen Torres' testimony

Todd Vaarwerk, Western New York Independent Living - Buffalo
Read Todd Vaarwerk's testimony

Brandy Vandermark-Murray, Horizon Health Services - Buffalo
Read Brandy Vandermark-Murray's testimony

Robyn Wiktorski-Reynolds, Crisis Services - Buffalo
Read Robyn Wiktorski-Reynolds' testimony

Denise Amato - Buffalo
Read Denise Amato's testimony

Mary Jo Alessio - Buffalo
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Jada C. Beard, RN at BryLin Hospitals Buffalo - Buffalo
Read Jada C. Beard's testimony

Murnita Bennett, ECMC - Buffalo
Read Murnita Bennett's testimony

Jennifer Brinkworth, RN, New York State Nurses Association - Buffalo
Read Jennifer Brinkworth's testimony

Lawrence Brooks - Buffalo
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Rebecca Butler – Buffalo
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Nysha Camilo - Buffalo
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Linda Cowan - Buffalo
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Kenyani Davis, Community Health Center of Buffalo, INC. - Buffalo
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Diveth Garcia, The Children's Agenda Parent Advocacy Group – Rochester
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Jessica Gilbert - Ellicottville
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Douglas Goldberg – Rochester
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Lisa Guzman - Rochester
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Kathleen A. Hallinan, MD MPH, Corning Guthrie Clinic, Board Certified Internal Medicine, Diplomate Board of Obesity Medicine – Corning
Read Kathleen A. Hallinan's testimony

Brian Hannold - Niagara Falls
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Cara Hudson - Niagara Falls
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Kim Ingles - Warsaw
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Robyn Johnson - Geneva
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Sarah Johnson, Enlightened Earth Hypnosis - Pittsford
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Renee Lueke - East Aurora
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Monica Lynch - Buffalo
Read Monica Lynch's testimony

Angel Malavet, Guthrie Clinic - Corning
Read Angel Malavet's testimony

Jessica Mason, University at Buffalo - East Amherst
Read Jessica Mason's testimony

Chackupurackal Mathai, NYS Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council member – Rochester
Read Chackupurackal Mathai's testimony

Erin Melfi, 1199 SEIU - Buffalo
Read Erin Melfi's testimony

Nico Mitchell - Buffalo
Read Nico Mitchell's testimony