A pair of Chicago-based organizations partnered with the Kennedy Forum to recently launch a new interactive tool that tracks data from commercial insurers in Illinois. [Health News Illinois]

The Mental Health Parity Index draws on data made available through a federal rule, allowing users to view in-network providers and their reimbursement rates by county.

Officials said the index is the result of an 18-month collaboration among the Kennedy Forum, Third Horizon and the American Medical Association. Leading experts in mental health, substance use, physical health, health research and payment policy have reviewed the underlying public methods.

Per the data, there are 55 percent fewer mental health providers than physical health providers available statewide. The relative percentage differences ranged from 7.5 percent to 153 percent across health plans in Illinois.

Additionally, the average mental health services are reimbursed 27 percent lower than physical health, with the difference ranging from 3 percent to 56 percent across the health plans.

Hospitals also receive almost twice as much per day for a physical health admission as they do for a mental health admission.

“This tool, for the first time, has the power to illuminate specific geographies where an individual health plan can enhance their in-network coverage by providing clear metrics on how to take that cost and life-saving action,” said Third Horizon President Greg Williams.

Health News Illinois recently caught up with Nathaniel Counts, the Kennedy Forum’s chief policy officer, about how the index came to be and what’s next in the effort.

Edited excerpts below:

HNI: How did this come about?

NC: We launched it in 2023 at our Alignment for Progress Conference with our partner Third Horizon, which is based in Chicago, and then the American Medical Association joined as a partner as well. It started with funding from the Illinois Legislature, and what this project does is based on these transparency and coverage files. So in 2022, with very little fanfare, the federal government required insurance companies to post publicly and share their negotiated rates for every single service, for every single provider and for every single plan. That is like petabytes of data, so much so that a single file could crash your whole computer because it's like the sheer volume of information. And so after these files were posted, there wasn't much activity around them because they were so complex. And so the Kennedy Forum and Third Horizon, we began this project, and we're analyzing these files to look at in Illinois.

HNI: What were some of the key findings for you?

NC: There does seem to be at least a lot of registered mental health subsidy providers out there who aren't getting contracts. So theoretically, maybe not all of them would see patients, but there are at least these registered providers out there. That's been a big part of this conversation, 'There's just not enough providers.' It still may be in part true, but at least on paper, there are these folks out there. So I think that's a huge finding. Also, there's a lot of variability in what percentage of these providers people are getting into networks as well. 

We know that at least 51.8 percent of these people will come into networks. And that is a pretty critical finding that we had no idea until right now. So the big difference is that there have been some past analyses on the differences in reimbursement between mental health and substance use providers on one hand and physical health providers. But this shows a 27 percent lower reimbursement. This is real-time data. Before, it was like multiple-year lag claims data, which was the best we could do. But this is what the health plans are reporting they're paying people right now, and I think that's a really powerful tool for understanding what the market's doing.

HNI: What’s been the initial feedback on this index and the data?

NC: So the state’s Chief Behavioral Health Officer was on a panel with me and the president-elect of the Illinois State Medical Society, and they were just both so excited to have a more granular view of the data. Because beyond just the big dot findings we shared, I think having a better sense of, 'Oh, there are these providers potentially out there in this county that we might be able to recruit. And if we do bring these payments up to parity, we might be able to get people to network and, like, really address more specific health disparities.' That's a really exciting finding for a lot of people. Even at the plans, I think it's harder for them to do that level of analysis

HNI: What's the plan going forward with this tool?

NC: We're going to be working with stakeholders like all the ones we mentioned across the Illinois ecosystem to see how best to equip them to use the tool. So working with insurers, quite a lot of them were at the release... the employer coalitions and the state to figure out how we can best maximize this to start changing the numbers towards parity. And then also, beyond the data, where there's collective areas of advocacy that could improve some of these numbers beyond just insurance parity as well. I think there's like a two-pronged area of advocacy that begins to open up. More nationally, our hope is to keep expanding as we get more resources to access more plans and bring in more data for more states. We think this could be an important tool federally as the federal government starts to think about the next steps for parity; we've already started conversations with a lot of federal partners to figure out how we use this data to improve understanding of parity and get towards like the core questions of access.

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The Portes Foundation and the Institute of Medicine of Chicago are proud to honor Dr. Alejandro Aparicio with the 2025 Portes Foundation  Meritorious Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Dr. Aparicio recently retired from our board as well as from his full time position with the American Medical Association (AMA). He has been licensed as a practicing physician in the State of Illinois since 1984 and has served in numerous leadership positions at both local and national levels for nearly 40 years. His contributions range from his service in the United States Army Reserve to health care delivery, teaching medical professionals, leading professional organizations, and serving as the Director of Medical Education Programs for the AMA.

Dr. Aparicio was born in Cuba in the 1950s and migrated to the United States as a teen. He became a United States citizen and attended the University of Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. While an undergraduate student, he was the recipient of the Sidney M. Jourard Outstanding Leadership Award and served as President of the National Honor Society. He earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Univeridad Central del Este in the Dominican Republic and completed his residency at Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in Chicago. He was named the Outstanding Resident of the Year in 1985 and served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine the following year. Dr. Aparicio served in the United States Army Reserve upon completing his residency and was honorably discharged at the rank of Major.

From 1985 through 2004, Dr. Aparicio served in a number of roles with Advocate Health facilities in Chicago. In addition to his practice in General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Advocate Health Center at Irving and Western, he served as the Assistant Program Director for Internal Medicine and the Director of Medical Education at Advocate Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center. At Ravenswood, he accepted leadership roles on a number of committees and served as Chairman of the Medical Education Committee, the Library and Medical Resources Center, the Curriculum Subcommittee, the Medical Records Quality Improvement Team, the Collaborative Care Committee, and the Medical Staff Nominating Committee. He founded and served as editor of “The Ravenswood Hospital Forum”, a publication of the Department of Medical Education.

From November 2000 to August 2004, Dr. Aparicio served as the Associate Medical Director and Director of Medical Education at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago where he also served on numerous committees with varied focuses on such topics as ethics and risk management.

Dr. Aparicio also took on system‐wide leadership roles with the Advocate Health Care system. He served on the Board of Directors from 2004 to 2012 and chaired the Continuing Medical Education Committee, serving on a number of other committees such as the Research and Medical Education Task Force and was the Associate Editor of the Journal of Advocate Health Care.

In addition to his work with Advocate, Dr. Aparicio served as Medical Director and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Ballard Health Care Residence and Ballard Health Care Residence in Des Plaines, Illinois over the period from 1996 to 2004. He also served on the Board of Governors for Advocate Kutsch College of Nursing from 1997 through 2003.

In September of 2004, he took on the role of Director of Continuing Physician Professional Development with the American Medical Association (AMA) where he was responsible for overseeing Continuing Professional Development programs around the United States that directly impact the efforts of thousands of practitioners to promote health and prevent disease.

In 2014, he became the Director of Medical Education Programs at the AMA, thus expanding his role and influence in the field. During his career, Dr. Aparicio has contributed his expertise to research in the field of disease prevention and health professions education as well. He held appointments at the University of Illinois College of Medicine from 1985 through 2023, most recently as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education. During this time, he served on numerous committees at the university such as the College Committee on Continuing Medical Education, the Graduate Medical Education Consortium Committee, the Essentials of Clinical Medicine Subcommittee, and served as the Co‐chair of the M3/M4 Subcommittee.

In an effort to support the dissemination of research on health promotion and disease prevention, Dr. Aparicio has been a member of the editorial board at of the journal Educación Médica, served on the advisory board of the Journal of European CME, and has served as a reviewer for articles in various medical journals including Academic Medicine, Frontiers in Pharmacology, the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Medical Teacher, and Quality and Safety in Health Care.

Dr. Aparicio’s influence on the field of health promotion and disease prevention is extensive as demonstrated by his involvement with professional organizations both local and national. He has been on the Board of Directors or served as an officer in more than 10 organizations such as The Global Alliance for Medical Education, Hispanocare, the Illinois Medical Directors Association, the National Task Force on Continuing Medical Education Provider/Industry Collaboration, the Ravenswood Health Care Foundation, and the Portes Foundation. He received a presidential appointment to the White House Conference on Aging in 2005.

Dr. Aparicio’s impact on health care providers is evident from the many awards he has received recognizing his work such as the President’s Award from the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Preceptorship Award from the American College of Physicians, the Robert Raszkowski, MD, PhD ACCME Hero Award from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Geriatrics Recognition Award from the American Geriatrics Society, the Physician Recognition Award from the AMA, and the Award of Merit from the Federation of State Medical Boards.

The Portes Foundation & the Institute of Medicine of Chicago are proud to honor Dr. Aparicio with Portes/IOMC Award for Excellence in the Field of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. 

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Self-reported mental health of mothers declined significantly from 2016 to 2023, a study published May 27 in JAMA Internal Medicine found. [Becker's Behavioral Health & JAMA]

The study examined data from more than 198,000 female parents of children aged 0 to 17. 

Here are five things to know: 

1. The prevalence of mothers reporting “excellent” mental health declined from 38.4% in 2016 to 25.8% in 2023. 
   
   
2. The percentage of mothers reporting “fair/poor” mental health rose from 5.5% in 2016 to 8.5% in 2023.
   
   
3. The study also examined self-reported physical health among mothers. The percentage of mothers reporting excellent physical health declined from 28% to 23.9%, while the share reporting good physical health rose from 24.3% to 28%. 
   
   
4. Mental health declined across socioeconomic groups, but mothers who were U.S.-born, single parents, less educated, or had publicly insured or uninsured children were more likely to report worse physical and mental health. 
   
   
5. The study points to a need for further investigation of the underlying causes of mental health decline among mothers, the study’s authors concluded. 

The study was conducted by researchers at New York City-based Columbia University and Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan. 

Read the full study here.

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James L. Madara, MD, retires as Chief Executive Officer from the Chicago-based American Medical Association in June 2025, wrapping up a remarkable 14-year tenure in which he solidified the organization’s long-term strategic vision, financial standing, and grew physician membership to levels not seen in decades. Throughout his time leading the nation’s largest and most influential physicians’ organization, Dr. Madara championed health innovation and equity and propelled the AMA into the 21st Century with a reimagining of medical education, physician training and digital technology.

At Dr. Madara’s direction, the AMA became a nationally recognized leader and advocate for improved health technology by elevating physician expertise and experience into the creation of new digital tools that create practice efficiencies and reduce burdens. The AMA founded the Health2047 venture studio in Silicon Valley and built the expansive Physician Innovation Network online matchmaking platform, to bring physician voice and perspective to entrepreneurs that are designing and developing technologies. These collaborations have resulted in numerous promising health technology companies, including some dedicating to accelerating scientific research and helping people better monitor and manager chronic health conditions.

Dr. Madara’s steady leadership from the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic focused the AMA’s response as a leading voice for physician needs, science- and evidence-based solutions, and in communicating about vaccine efficacy. The AMA played a key role in telehealth expansions that helped keep patients and physicians connected throughout the pandemic, developed critical resources for physicians in private practice to stay afloat during the crisis, and became a leading voice in pushing back on misinformation and disinformation that jeopardized public health.

In addition to Modern Healthcare consistently naming him as one of the nation’s 50 most influential physician executives, as well as one of the nation’s 100 most influential people in health care, Dr. Madara has been recognized with several national and international awards.

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Infectious disease physicians expressed alarm over how the Trump administration bypassed open and established processes for changing vaccine recommendations, and voiced particular concern over restrictions to COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy.

During a briefing hosted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) on Friday, experts urged clinicians seeking information on COVID vaccination to look to specialty societies for evidence-based guidance in lieu of government websites.

More>

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Illinois leaders reaffirmed Wednesday that state law requires pregnant women to have access to the full range of life-saving care, including abortions, when they are in emergency rooms. [Health News Illinois]

The comments come as the Trump administration said this week it will rescind a federal requirement that hospitals provide emergency abortions to women whose health is in peril, including in states where abortion is restricted or banned.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in its policy statement that hospitals would still be subject to a federal law requiring them to provide reproductive healthcare in emergencies, though it did not elaborate on what that means.

“This cruel action by the Trump administration creates confusion for healthcare providers and is one more example of how the Dobbs (v. Jackson Women's Health Organization) decision has diminished maternal health and healthcare for all women across the country,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.

Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said they are working to ensure all Illinois hospitals are aware that a state law passed last year clarifies that life-saving treatment, including pregnancy termination, must be offered by providers. 

Those who do not comply can be penalized.

"Hospitals and healthcare providers have the responsibility to provide necessary healthcare to protect the life and health of everyone in a medical emergency, including abortions when warranted," Vohra said.

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The 3-year-old program has relieved the most debt for people on Chicago's South and West sides and in the south and west suburbs.  [Chicago Sun-Times]

Cook County has erased nearly $665 million in medical debt for local residents since launching the effort in 2022, according to new figures released Thursday.

County leaders are celebrating the latest milestone of the program, which has so far helped almost 557,000 people have some of their debt abolished.

The effort has relieved the most debt for people on Chicago’s South and West sides and in the south and west suburbs. The amount erased ranges from about $600 to $4,000 on average per person, depending on where they live.

“This has been a real boon to a substantial number of our residents,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “This I think is what the president of the United States at the time, Joe Biden, and Congress intended — that we make a real impact on peoples’ lives in the aftermath of a really cataclysmic event, not just the health scare, but the very troubling economic impacts that followed the pandemic.”

The county has become a national model for how other local governments can use their resources to erase medical debt for residents. Cook County partners with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, which buys old uncollectible bills from hospitals and others for pennies on the dollar, and then forgives it. With $1, Undue Medical Debt leaders have said they can relieve as much as $100 of medical debt or more at a time.

More>

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The Institute of Medicine of Chicago will award Dr. Archana Chatterjee, MD, PhD, the 2025 The Portes Foundation & IOMC Award for Prevention of Disease. This honor will be presented at the 2025 Leadership Awards & Annual Meeting on June 26, 2025, at Maggiano's-Chicago. The event is open to all and unites healthcare advocates, academic institutions, medical organizations, and community partners. For more details and to register, visit here.

Dr. Chatterjee has advocated for pediatric health throughout her academic career. She has trained the next generation of pediatricians in infectious diseases, her groundbreaking research on childhood vaccines has improved patients’ health, and her service in the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pediatric
Infectious Diseases Society has been a model of leadership.

Beginning in 2000, she served as the Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Control at the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center (CUSOM) in Omaha, NE, for 13 years. In 2006, she became the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease. From 2013 to 2020, she served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (USD SSOM).

During this extended 20-year period, Dr. Chatterjee was either the only or one of 2 to 3 pediatric infectious disease specialists caring for the children in the states of Nebraska and South Dakota.

Trained as an infectious disease specialist focusing on vaccinology, Dr. Chatterjee is board-certified in General Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases by the American Board of Pediatrics. She is nationally recognized
for her work in vaccine development for human papillomaviruses, serving on the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) since 2019.

This year, she became the Chair-Elect for the American Board of Pediatrics, Sub-board of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. She has also written a book entitled “Vaccinophobia and Vaccine Controversies of the 21st Century” and is currently working on an updated version.

You can learn more about Dr. Chatterjee and our leadership award recipients at the event. Grab a ticket now!

2025 Leadership Awards & Annual Meeting
110th Anniversary
June 26, 2025
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM CT
Maggianos-Chicago

For more details and to register>

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Removing fluoride from U.S. public water systems would lead to a 7.5% increase in tooth decay and cost at least $9.8 billion over five years, according to a study published May 30 in the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum.. [Becker's Dental & DSO Review]

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in April that he plans to advise the CDC to stop recommending adding fluoride to public water supplies. His comments followed the National Toxicology Program’s report concluding that fluoride exposure above 1.5 milligrams per liter is associated with lower IQ in children. Although the NTP affirmed a lack of evidence for health effects associated with fluoride exposure less than 1.5 milligrams, the study has led to several states and municipalities to end their community water fluoridation programs. 

The JAMA study was conducted by researchers from the Harvard University School of Dental Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted to estimate changes in tooth decay, quality-adjusted life years and the costs associated with fluoride removal. The study used data from more than 8,400 children ages 0-19 from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, including dental utilization, oral health examinations and access to fluoride in public water systems in the U.S.

More>

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The New York Times: CDC Issues New Advice On Covid Vaccines For Children That Contradicted RFK Jr.

Days after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that Covid shots would be removed from the federal immunization schedule for children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated advice that largely countered Mr. Kennedy’s new policy. The agency kept Covid shots on the schedule for healthy children 6 months to 17 years old, but added a new condition. Children and their caregivers will be able to get the vaccines in consultation with a doctor or provider, which the agency calls “shared decision-making.” (Jewett, 5/30) [KFF Health News] 

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