Insurer Recommendations

Health Insurers

Here are the steps insurers can take to support maternal mental health:

Medical Insurers:

  1. Institute a case management/care coordination program, allowing obstetricians to refer moms immediately into the program who screen positive for depression, anxiety or bi-polar disorder. Medicaid plan case managers/care coordinators should also address social determinants of health, like food and housing insecurity and safety.

  2. Inform obstetricians how to bill for screening.

  3. Inform obstetricians how to bill for treatment (brief intervention/medication management).

  4. Provide telepsychiatry patient to provider services for all patients with bi-polar disorder, treatment resistant depression, or severe mental illness as a standard.

  5. Inform obstetricians that they should be treating basic depression and anxiety as prescribers when necessary, and how they can consult with a reproductive psychiatrist and bill for their time.

  6. Reimburse obstetrians and hospitals who staff LCSWs or other talk therapists in their offices.

  7. Cover digital therapuetics and explain to providers how to prescribe use of these tools.

Mental Health Insurers:

  1. Identify via an attestation, on the provider credentialing form and at a recredentialing for existing providers, which providers have taken at least 8 hours of a certificate based training in maternal mental health and have 20 practice hours treating MMH disorders.

  2. Pay providers who have earned a PMH designation (the board test provided by Postpartum Support International) higher rates.

  3. Monitor whether you have sufficient MMH providers based on child bearing age women and location of these women in the service area and recruit as needed.

  4. Be available to coordinate with case managers at medical insurers.

  5. Reimburse birth hospitals or medical clinics that provide support groups for maternal mental health disorders, NICU moms/parents that are clinician or certified peer specialist lead.

  6. Authorize services for MMH specific outpatient day treatment programs and inpatient programs. Work to recruit such programs in the provider network.