OIMHP

OIMHP advocates on behalf of all Oregon behavioral health professionals for:
- Robust enforcement of federal and state mental health parity laws in Oregon.
- Increased reimbursement rates for all behavioral health providers in keeping with parity.
- Reimbursement rates sufficient to build strong in network provider panels that improve access to behavioral health treatment.
- Insurance policies and procedures that do not discriminate against and stigmatize Oregon citizens with mental health conditions.

Why the need for OIMHP?
Federal and state laws require health insurance companies to treat behavioral health and medical services equally, however this is not often case. True mental health parity remains elusive both in Oregon and nationwide.

Behavioral health professionals are often underpaid and over-managed by health insurers compared to medical providers. While medical providers receive higher reimbursements and less interference in billing practices, behavioral health professionals face managed care policies and practices that restrict reimbursement and service delivery.

Behavioral health professionals typically work in private individual and group practices and lack access to lobbyists, unlike some medical providers with larger group practices and hospital affiliations. This disparity underscores the need for stronger legislative advocacy to enforce mental health parity laws. OIMHP has been at the forefront of this need. 

What has OIMHP accomplished?
OIMHP authored  SB 860 (2017) and co-authored HB 3046 (2021), which were both signed into law by Governor Kate Brown. These laws exposed parity non-compliant practices and created a mandate for rigorous Oregon state regulatory enforcement. OIMHP also led the way in advocating for SB 824 (2025) and SB 822 (2025) which were both signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek. OIMHP was also invited to sit on the Rulemaking Advisory Committees for the latter three bills, countering attempts by health insurance representatives to weaken regulations and lending valuable input on how these laws are implemented.

We are OIMHP
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Patrick Mooney, PhD, Salem
Melissa Todd, PhD, Eugene
Anne Emmett, LCSW, Portland
Jessica Teigland, LPC, Salem
JL Wilson, Public Affairs Counsel