New Mexico official orders insurance companies to expand timely access to behavioral health services

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top insurance regulator is ordering health insurance companies to expand timely access to behavioral health services. Superintendent of Insurance Alice Kane issued the emergency order Tuesday in response to the governor recently declaring a public health emergency over gun violence in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County. The governor initially sought to ban the carrying of firearms in the state’s most populous metropolitan area, but a federal judge put that effort on hold pending the outcome of multiple legal challenges. Citing the effects of substance abuse and behavioral health issues, Kane is mandating that major medical health insurers cover out-of-network behavioral health services at in-network rates.