To the Ohio General Assembly and Governor of Ohio:

You finally decide to ask for help. Then you find out therapy will cost you the full session price until you meet your deductible. You call the therapists listed by your insurance company. Some don’t accept your plan. Others aren’t taking new patients. Or you lose your job—and the insurance that helped you stay connected to your therapist, psychiatrist, and medication.

Ohioans deserve a reliable way to get care before their circumstances become a crisis.

My name is Zac Branstool. I’m an Ohio therapist and small business owner. I believe people should be able to afford consistent mental health treatment, including those who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot comfortably pay for care themselves.

We are calling on Ohio lawmakers to pass four reforms:

1. Require mental health coverage in temporary insurance plans. Short-term medical insurance sold in Ohio should cover medically necessary therapy, psychiatric care, medication management, and psychiatric medications. Existing mental health conditions should be covered from the start. People losing employer coverage should have a guaranteed opportunity to enroll without being rejected because of their health history.

2. Cover outpatient mental health treatment before the deductible—and cap therapy costs at $25 per session. Patients should be able to use their mental health coverage beginning with their first appointment. Ohio should require plans within its authority to cover outpatient mental health treatment without first making patients meet a deductible. Total patient costs for a covered therapy session should be capped at $25, while preserving benefits that already cost less. The legislation should provide the strongest protection federal law allows and address gaps where federal restrictions prevent a state insurance mandate from reaching everyone.

3. Hold insurance companies responsible for accurate directories and access to care
If an insurance company lists a therapist or psychiatric provider, patients should be able to trust that information. Insurers must verify which plans providers accept, whether they accept new patients, and whether timely appointments are available. When their network cannot provide timely care, insurers should arrange treatment outside the network at the patient’s protected in-network cost. The work and expense of operating, verifying, and correcting insurance directories must fall on insurance companies. Therapists and psychiatrists should not have to absorb insurers’ administrative costs or penalties for insurers’ mistakes.

4. Protect treatment for 180 days after employer insurance ends

Losing health insurance should not abruptly end someone’s mental health treatment. Ohio should establish 180 days of medically necessary therapy, psychiatric care, and psychiatric medications without patient cost-sharing after loss of employer coverage. Temporary medical policies should provide this protection while in force. A funded state transition program should provide care when replacement insurance is unavailable, unaffordable, or leaves a gap. Patients should be able to continue with their existing clinician when that clinician agrees to participate.


These reforms must include enforcement, patient refunds when insurers overcharge, meaningful appeals, and funding that makes the transition benefit dependable. Being able to ask for help should lead to an appointment you can afford. Sign this petition and urge Ohio lawmakers to introduce and pass legislation that makes mental health care affordable, holds insurers accountable, and keeps people connected to treatment when their coverage changes. This is only the first step to a much bigger reform.