Cornerstone
MHPAEA Parity Appeals for Solo Therapists: A Practical Guide
The complete MHPAEA framework — NQTLs, the CAA 2021 § 203 comparative-analysis demand, and the parity argument structure that wins behavioral health appeals.
Read guide →Insurance Appeal Guides
Step-by-step guides on MHPAEA parity law, prior authorization reform, and eating disorder insurance denials — written for solo behavioral health therapists fighting for their patients.
11 guides · Updated June 2026
Regulatory
Prior Authorization for Behavioral Health: What Changed January 1, 2026 (CMS-0057-F)
Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and ACA plans must now give specific PA denial reasons within 7 days. How to use that specificity in your next MHPAEA appeal.
Read guide →Eating Disorders
Eating Disorder Insurance Denials: Appealing Under MHPAEA Parity Rights
How to challenge eating disorder insurance denials using MHPAEA — covering nutritional counseling exclusions, residential step therapy, and the CAA 2021 § 203 demand.
Read guide →Eating Disorders
Eating Disorder Insurance Denials: MHPAEA Step-Therapy and Level-of-Care Parity Arguments
MHPAEA parity arguments for eating disorder step-therapy and level-of-care denials — how to identify the NQTL, name the medical comparator, and demand the comparative analysis.
Read guide →Eating Disorders
How to Appeal Eating Disorder Residential Treatment Denials Under MHPAEA
Step-by-step appeal process for eating disorder residential treatment denials — the MHPAEA comparator argument, required clinical documentation, and state-law overlay.
Read guide →Eating Disorders
Eating Disorder Insurance Denials: Fighting Fail-First Step Therapy Under MHPAEA
Why fail-first step therapy requirements for eating disorder residential treatment violate MHPAEA parity — and exactly how solo therapists can appeal them successfully.
Read guide →SUD
Addiction Treatment Insurance Denials: Appealing IOP and Residential Coverage Under MHPAEA
How to challenge IOP, PHP, and residential addiction treatment coverage denials using MHPAEA parity — the legal framework, required clinical documentation, and 2026 enforcement precedent.
Read guide →Networks
Ghost Networks in Behavioral Health: How to Appeal When Your Insurer's Directory Is Misleading
On February 19, 2026, the NY AG secured $2.5M from EmblemHealth after 80%+ of its behavioral health providers were unreachable. Learn how to document a ghost network and appeal the denial.
Read guide →Prior Auth
Challenging Prior Authorization as an MHPAEA Parity Violation
Prior auth for outpatient therapy is only legal if the plan imposes the same burden on comparable medical visits. Here's how to prove they don't.
Read guide →Autism/ABA
ABA Therapy and Autism Services Insurance Denials: What Federal and State Law Require
Most states mandate ABA therapy coverage for fully-insured plans — the details vary by plan type — and denials persist. How to appeal autism service denials using MHPAEA and state autism mandates.
Read guide →IOP/PHP
Mental Health IOP and PHP Insurance Denials: The MHPAEA Level-of-Care Appeal
When insurers deny mental health IOP or PHP authorization, MHPAEA parity law gives therapists and patients specific legal grounds to fight back — grounded in 29 U.S.C. § 1185a and 29 CFR § 2590.712.
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