Mental health care in America is being quietly bought out from underneath us — and most clients and clinicians have no idea it's happening.

Insurance giants like UnitedHealth, CVS/Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Cigna are investing in the very therapy platforms therapists use to get paid, buying up independent practices, deploying AI algorithms to deny care, and systematically underpaying the clinicians who serve communities that need them most.

Meanwhile, the platforms promising to help — Headway, Alma, Grow Therapy, Rula — are funded by the same insurers who control reimbursement rates. Therapists are paid less, clients get less choice, and corporate profits grow. Headway is currently facing a federal lawsuit for allegedly sharing patient mental health data with Google without consent. SimplePractice announced it will retain session transcript data by default. AI systems are monitoring facial expressions and voice patterns in therapy sessions.

The Trump administration has reclassified social work and counseling degrees as "non-professional" — cutting access to federal student loans and threatening to price out the next generation of mental health clinicians, especially those from low-income and BIPOC communities.

We demand:

1. ENFORCE MENTAL HEALTH PARITY LAWS — immediately reinstate and enforce the 2024 parity regulations requiring insurers to cover mental health care on equal footing with physical health care.

2. REGULATE ALGORITHMIC CLAIM DENIALS — ban AI algorithms from overriding clinical judgment in mental health coverage decisions.

3. REQUIRE FULL TRANSPARENCY IN PLATFORM OWNERSHIP — any therapy platform must disclose whether it is funded by or owned by a health insurance company or private equity firm.

4. BAN PREDATORY PAYMENT PRACTICES — prohibit insurance companies from defaulting to virtual credit card reimbursements that skim 3–5% from provider payments.

5. PROTECT PATIENT DATA IN THERAPY SETTINGS — require explicit opt-in informed consent before any session data, transcripts, or biometric information can be retained or analyzed.

6. RESTORE PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATION FOR SOCIAL WORK AND COUNSELING DEGREES — reverse the Department of Education's reclassification of MSW and counseling degrees as "non-professional."

7. RESTORE $1 BILLION IN SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS — reinstate the federal grants that funded school-based counselors and social workers.

8. INVESTIGATE CAQH GOVERNANCE — require independent oversight of CAQH following its acquisition by a consortium of major health plans.

Mental health care belongs to communities — not corporations.

Started by: Bodhi Counseling & Consulting Center, PC | Champaign, IL | bodhicounseling.care