Mental health is just as important as physical health. But insurance companies don’t always see it that way, especially when it comes to paying mental and behavioral health care providers.
On March 9, we hosted a Mental and Behavioral Health Care Town Hall with nearly 100 neighbors at Irving Park Lutheran Church. There, we talked with our neighbors about barriers we’re facing in accessing physical and behavioral care and our work to expand mental health care access in Illinois and protect accessible, affordable care programs for everyone.
We were joined by State Representative Lindsey LaPointe, State Senator Graciela Guzmán, 30th Ward Alderwoman Ruth Cruz, Cook Country Commissioner Bridget Degnen, and State Senator Robert Martwick as we discussed pending mental health legislation and the larger fight for health justice in Chicago and Illinois.
Currently, Illinois’ private insurers reimburse mental and behavioral health practitioners at much lower rates than physical health care providers receive. As the cost of living keeps rising and reimbursement rates stay low, therapists, social workers, and counselors are forced to stop taking insurance to make ends meet or leave the profession altogether, making it harder for us to receive care.
Introduced by LaPointe this session, the Improve Network Adequacy and Access for Behavioral Health Bill [HB 1085] will address this problem by requiring insurers to reimburse providers for mental and behavioral health care at the same rates as physical health care. This bill would set minimum reimbursement rates from private insurers for in-network mental health and substance abuse care and attract behavioral health providers back to insurance networks.
“We pay our monthly premiums, so we need to be able to use our insurance. When people can’t find a provider in-network, they either forgo care or they literally pay out of pocket,” LaPointe said. “It’s such a cost of living issue at a moment in time where everyone is struggling with rising costs.”
Our communities also face threats to health care coming from the state and federal governments. When Governor Pritzker unveiled his 2026 state budget proposal, it also came with proposed spending cuts to the Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors and Adults, which allow undocumented immigrants to receive health care coverage through the state. These programs provide health care for 32,000 adults in this state ages 45-64 but are on the chopping block this session.
And if our Republican-led Congress moves forward with slashing Medicaid to pay for tax cuts, it could create devastating outcomes for the 3.2 million Illinoisians currently on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
“When I was working in a clinic, one of the greatest things that could happen was to discover somebody was Medicaid-eligible because it opened doors. That person could be eligible for prescriptions, for long-term care, for therapy, for everything under the under the sun,” Guzmán said. “The message we need to land in our communities is that people will die. People will be sick. People will have to make really tough decisions.”
The future of Medicaid and other critical health care programs hangs in the balance, but it’s our moral responsibility to ensure we maintain lifesaving care. As we organize to protect our care, we’re organizing on all fronts: to hold insurance companies accountable for paying for mental health care, fighting prior authorizations and insurance claims denials, and mobilizing to protect state and federal health care programs. Join the fight at our next Health Care Task Force meeting on Tuesday, April 1, over Zoom from 6–8 PM CT.
