Ron Wyden

It's time for that to change.

In a moment of national crisis about mental health, with the problems growing at such a rapid rate, the widespread existence of ghost networks is unacceptable.

My view is that insurance companies have gotten a free pass for too long letting ghost networks run rampant.

When someone who's worried about their mental health or the mental health of a loved one finally works up the courage to pick up the phone and try to get help, the last thing they need is a symphony of 'please hold' music, non-working…

In my view, it's a breach of contract for insurance companies to sell their plans for thousands of dollars each month while their product is unusable due to a ghost network.

The Behavioral Health Network and Directory Improvement Act (S. 5093), introduced last Congress by Senator Smith and Chairman Wyden, would require audits of plans' provider directories.

The results were clear. Our secret shoppers could get an appointment--now this is after people had paid vast sums--they could get an appointment only 18 percent of the time.

The widespread existence of ghost networks is unacceptable.

Too often, Americans who need affordable mental health care hit a dead end when they try to find a provider that's covered by their insurance. Ghost networks mean that the lists of mental health providers in insurance company directories…

The fact is, these Americans are being ripped off by what the Government Accountability Office has described as a 'ghost network.'

Too often Americans who need affordable mental health care hit a dead end when they try to find a provider that is covered by their insurance. Ghost networks mean that the lists of mental health providers in insurance company directories…

I believe, certainly, greater transparency, for example, ought to be an easy one for members of this committee to get around.

Ghost networks are an ongoing, persistent problem.

It is a breach of contract for insurance companies to sell their plans worth thousands of dollars each month, while their product is unusable.

What a ghost network is all about is essentially selling health coverage under false pretenses.

In any other business, if a product or service does not meet expectations, consumers get a refund.

I am going to work with all of my colleagues here on both sides, Democratic and Republican, to get some real accountability for these patients who pay good money for mental health coverage and then find that there is very little 'there'…

The official estimate says that $540 billion of taxes owed go unpaid each year.

Democrats are committed to the proposition that it should not cost hundreds of dollars and many more hours of time simply to follow the law and to pay what you owe.

Apparently, if he does not get what he wants, he is willing to let this country go through a catastrophic default.

Democrats made a big investment in taxpayer service with the Inflation Reduction Act, and it goes without saying that now the American people have a right to know what they got with that investment.

The official estimate says that $540 billion of taxes owed go unpaid each year.

Democrats made a big investment in taxpayer service with the Inflation Reduction Act, and it goes without saying that taxpayers have a right to know what they got with that investment.

We know in this country we have a tax gap of hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.

It is these wealthy tax cheats--who can pretty much decide what they want to pay and when they want to pay it--that are the challenge.