Nevada committee hears bill to require parity data be filed in NAIC system

Assemblymember Lisa Cole, sponsor of Assembly Bill 207, told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee that AB207 would increase transparency in enforcement of mental-health parity laws by requiring insurers to submit parity-related data into the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ electronic filing system.

"Mental health impacts every family, every community, and every corner of our state," Cole said, adding that "we have laws on the books that guarantee mental health parity, but without transparency, those laws are meaningless."

Supporters, including Spencer Flanders of TriStrategies representing the Nevada Psychological Association and Dr. Laurie Drucker, a psychologist in Reno, described AB207 as a tool for enforcing the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and for identifying disparities in coverage and denials. "In the most simple terms, it's when we treat mental health care the same as physical health care," Flanders said. Drucker described long-term trends she said show "substantial inequities between medical-surgical benefits and mental health benefits," citing differences in denials, utilization review and provider reimbursement.

Flanders and Dr. Drucker said the bill would direct insurers to submit standardized parity data — denial justifications, medical-necessity criteria, appeals information and other non-quantitative treatment limitation data — into the NAIC’s System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing (SERFF). Flanders noted other states use SERFF to collect parity data and urged Nevada to do the same so the division of insurance can more readily analyze compliance.

Adam Plaine of the Nevada Division of Insurance testified in neutral, noting several implementation details. He said the SERFF system is "not a division-owned system; it's owned by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners," and that some carriers and state regulators have encountered technical limits such as file-size issues. Plaine said the division can use SERFF as directed but suggested allowing alternate submission approaches when technical limitations exist, and he supported deleting a duplicative reporting subsection at the sponsor's request to avoid implying that internal work papers are not protected.

No members of the public called in for support or opposition during the hearing; a representative from Nevada Advanced Practice Nurses Association appeared in person to support the bill. Cole closed the hearing after committee questions and testimony.

Why it matters: Supporters said standardized, timely parity reporting would give regulators, providers and consumers a clearer picture of where mental-health coverage is being limited and why, enabling state enforcement of both state and federal parity requirements without new state spending.

What's next: The committee closed the hearing on AB207 with no vote recorded during this session. If advanced, the bill would proceed to further committee action and votes.