Oklahoma

There are several sections of the state insurance law about parity. This section contains relevant definitions for the subsequent sections.

This section requires large employer fully insured plans to cover services for the following conditions that are designated as “severe mental illness”:

• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar disorder
• Major depressive disorder
• Panic disorder
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Schizoaffective disorder

Plans are not required to cover services for other mental health conditions and substance use disorders, but if they do the coverage must be the same as what is required for “severe mental illness.”

Coverage for severe mental illness, and any other covered behavioral health conditions, must “be equal to” and “no more restrictive” than what is in place for other medical services for the following:

• Prior authorization
• Utilization review
• Outpatient care
• Medication coverage
• Lifetime maximums
• Copayments and coinsurance
• Deductibles
• Home visit coverage
• Any other treatment limitations

Plans cannot use any treatment limitation for behavioral health services that is not in place for other medical services.

Plans must cover either 26 days of inpatient care or the same inpatient day limit that is used for other medical care, whichever is greater.

This section allows plans to file for an exemption if they can demonstrate that coverage of “severe mental illness” caused premiums to rise by at least 2% over the course of a year.