Our History
Background
Oregon experienced aggressive efforts to restrict mental health service reimbursements in the history of managed care. The situation worsened in 2009 when Regence drastically cut mental health reimbursement rates.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to improve health, reduce care costs, and enhance patient experiences. However, the ACA introduced fears of centralized, hospital-dominated care, increased practice costs, and further reduced reimbursements.
2013
Nick Dietlein, the founder of WOMHA, attends an inspiring workshop with the American Mental Health Association in Portland. He then formed the WOMHA Steering Committee, inspired by the Connecting Care model for coordinated care with physicians.
WOMHA becomes the second mental health IPA in the nation, expanding our supportive network.
2014
WOMHA advocates for mental health parity legislation to achieve equal pay for all providers. The initial legislation efforts faced significant hurdles and ultimately failed in 2015.
2015
WOMHA developed and secured insurance contracts with Moda and Pacific Source based on their Connecting Care Model.
2016
WOMHA surveyed providers, and discovered that nearly half of Oregon’s mental health providers were leaving insurance panels due to low reimbursement and punitive utilization reviews.
WOMHA member Patrick Mooney proposes an innovative initiative that compared mental health and medical reimbursement rates which led to the drafting of Oregon Senate Bill 860.
WOMHA forms a multidisciplinary advocacy group called Oregon Independent Mental Health Professionals OMIHP to champion SB 860.
2017
WOMHA and OIMHP helped successfully pass SB 860, a significant victory for mental health providers in Oregon.
2018-2020
WOMHA engaged with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) to monitor the examination process required by SB 860.
DCBS released their findings, and OIMHP provided a thorough appraisal of the report, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.
2020-2021
WOMHA formed a coalition inspired by the Wit vs. UBH case, which addressed unfair insurance practices.
WOMHA crafted legislation HB 3046 to improve transparency and fairness in reimbursement comparisons between mental health and medical providers.
WOMHA helped successfully pass HB 3046, further strengthening mental health parity laws.
2021
Member and future Board President Melissa Todd served on the HB 3046 rules committee, advocating for fair reporting requirements for insurers, with DCBS often supporting our positions.
Future
WOMHA remains committed to monitoring the implementation of HB 3046 and are prepared to push for additional legislation to ensure mental health parity laws are upheld and not undermined.