Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a California Healthline article about problems state health care providers are experiencing in delivering adequate mental health care to their patients. The article focuses on Kaiser Permanente but notes that the state’s largest commercial health care plan is not alone among health plans experiencing a shortage of health care workers coupled with preexisting scarcity. Other problems include therapists declining to contract with insurers and a persistent bias in the health care system against mental health services and patients. Peterson, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, with appointments in political science, health policy and management, and law, said that the “open-ended nature of therapy” can be in conflict with health care plans’ focus on their bottom lines. For insurers, Peterson said, the question is, “How do you put an appropriate limit on that?”
Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, Health Policy and Management, and Law; Senior Fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
A specialist on American national institutions, much of Professor Peterson’s scholarship focuses on the Presidency, Congress, interest groups, and public...
