Important mental health and substance use disorder treatment information

Kaiser Permanente complies with Brennen's Law (HB 1099). This Washington state law requires health plans to provide specific information about accessing mental health care to members.

Kaiser Permanente considers mental health and substance use disorder treatment as a specialty service and provides access to appointments within 15 business days for nonurgent issues.

Kaiser Permanente complies with WA E2SHB 1688 (“Protecting consumers from charges for out-of-network health care services, by aligning state law and the federal no surprises act and addressing coverage of treatment for emergency conditions”) related to coverage of emergency services and alignment of state and federal balance billing laws. This Washington state law requires health plans to cover emergency behavioral health services provided by any in-network or out-of-network emergency behavioral health services provider, without any prior authorization requirement.

Urgent or emergency care

As of July 16, 2022, anyone experiencing a mental health or suicidal crisis can call, text, or chat the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to be connected with a trained crisis counselor.

The 988 line is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365. If you are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support, you can also contact the 988 line.

988 line services are available in Spanish, along with interpretation services in over 250 languages. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and TTY users, please use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

If you would like care advice or need to know if you should get immediate attention, call our 24/7 advice line. A nurse will listen to your concerns, and if necessary, direct you to the best location to get care. You'll need to give your member ID number.

Seattle area: 206-630-2244
Toll-free: 1-800-297-6877

For a life-threatening emergency, such as a possible drug overdose, a suicide attempt, or risk of a suicide attempt, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency care facility.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-273-8255.

Covered emergency behavioral health service providers include:

• Mobile rapid response crisis teams: a team that provides professional on-site community-based intervention such as outreach, de-escalation, stabilization, resource connection, and follow-up support for individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
• Crisis stabilization units: a short-term facility or a portion of a facility licensed or certified by the Washington State Department of Health, such as an evaluation and treatment facility or a hospital, which has been designed to assess, diagnose, and treat individuals experiencing an acute crisis without the use of long-term hospitalization.
• Evaluation and treatment facilities: any facility which can provide directly, or by direct arrangement with other public or private agencies, emergency evaluation and treatment, outpatient care, and timely and appropriate inpatient care to persons suffering from a mental disorder, and which is licensed or certified as such by the Washington State Department of Health.
• Outpatient crisis services agencies: a provider that offers services in an outpatient setting for individuals who are in behavioral health crisis. 
• Triage facilities: a short-term facility or a portion of a facility licensed or certified by the Washington State Department of Health, which is designed as a facility to assess and stabilize an individual or determine the need for involuntary commitment of an individual. A triage facility may be structured as a voluntary or involuntary placement facility.
• Medically-managed or medically-monitored withdrawal management: a facility operated by either a public or private agency or by the program of an agency which provides care to voluntary individuals and individuals involuntarily detained and committed for whom there is a likelihood of serious harm or who are gravely disabled due to the presence of a substance use disorder.

Getting care

For an initial appointment, please call the Mental Health Access Center at 1-888-287-2680, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Our Mental Health Access Center is staffed with mental health and wellness professionals with expertise in finding you appropriate and timely care.

If we are unable to find you an appointment with a provider within 15 business days for nonurgent issues, we will assist in connecting you to community providers to get the care you need.

Concerns with access to care

If you have questions, concerns, or would like to file a complaint, you can call Member Services or complete an online form and email it to Member Services at: kp.org/wa/compliments-complaints. 

We encourage you to share your comments with us directly so we can make any necessary improvements that will help us continue to provide high-quality care and service.

How to file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner

You may also contact the Washington State Insurance Commissioner (OIC) to file a complaint with their office at: www.insurance.wa.gov/file-complaint-or-check-your-complaint-status, or the commissioner’s toll-free insurance consumer hotline at 1-800-562-6900. 

To see the latest OIC report on mental health care access complaints in Washington, visit the OIC website and click on Carrier Complaints Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Report.