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Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill Requires Health Insurers and PEIA to Provide Payment Parity for Non-Physician Mental Health Care Providers
Last action · January 14, 2026: To House Health and Human ResourcesSponsors: Kathie Hess Crouse and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
House Bill 4061 requires the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) and other health insurance carriers in West Virginia to provide equal payment amounts for identical services performed by licensed mental health practitioners and licensed physicians, effective July 1, 2027.
- The West Virginia Legislature operates regular annual sessions, during which bills such as House Bill 4061 are introduced and referred to relevant committees before potential floor votes. context
- The Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) administers health and prescription drug coverage for state employees, retirees, and teachers in West Virginia. context
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 non-physician mental health practitioners
health insurance carriers
They are required to adjust claim payouts, maintain compliance reporting, and refrain from reducing physician reimbursement.
Public Employees Insurance Agency
The agency must administer plans in accordance with the new mental health payment parity rules and submit required compliance reports.
licensed physicians
Insurers are prohibited from reducing their reimbursement rates as a method of complying with the new parity provisions.
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 under House Bill 4061?
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 House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 14, 2026HouseCommitteeTo House Health and Human Resources
- Jan 14, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced in House
- Jan 14, 2026HouseCommitteeTo Health and Human Resources then Finance
- Jan 14, 2026HouseIntroducedFiled 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 Parity Enforcement
The legislation amends multiple distinct chapters of the West Virginia Code (Chapters 5 and 33) to uniformly enforce mental health reimbursement parity across PEIA, traditional insurance, hospital service corporations, and HMOs.
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
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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