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Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill Requires Health Insurance Payment Parity Between Physicians and Licensed Non-Physician Mental Health Providers
Last action · January 21, 2026: To Health and Human ResourcesSponsor: Laura Chapman
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What This Bill Proposed
West Virginia Senate Bill 565 mandates that the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) and other health insurance providers offer for identical services provided by behavioral health, mental health, and medical or surgical healthcare providers. Under the bill, licensed non-physician mental health practitioners must receive the same reimbursement amount as a licensed physician performing the same care in the same area, effective July 1, 2027.
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Licensed mental health practitioners
Health insurance carriers and PEIA
Carriers must adjust their claims processing and reimbursement structures to ensure parity between behavioral health and medical-surgical care.
Licensed physicians
Physician reimbursement rates are protected from being reduced by insurers attempting to offset parity compliance costs.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does payment parity mean for mental health providers under this bill?
Can insurers lower physician reimbursement rates to meet the parity requirement?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 21, 2026SenateCommitteeTo Health and Human Resources
- Jan 21, 2026SenateIntroducedIntroduced in Senate
- Jan 21, 2026SenateCommitteeTo Health and Human Resources then Finance
- Jan 21, 2026SenateIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Mental Health Payment Parity
The legislation amends multiple chapters of the West Virginia Code simultaneously to enforce uniform payment parity across PEIA, accident and sickness insurance, hospital service corporations, and health maintenance organizations.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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