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More than 1 million Coloradans are living with a diagnosed mental health condition but insurance companies are denying coverage for care their policies promise to pay for.

Jake Williams, CEO of the advocacy group Healthier Colorado, said insurers reject many claims as not medically necessary, even when a doctor has prescribed the treatment.

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"Seventy-five percent of Coloradans with commercial insurance, who have a diagnosed mental health condition, have not received the care that they need over this past year," Williams reported. "There are real consequences to this."

In 2008, Congress passed a law requiring insurers to offer the same access to mental health care as to physical care. But a loophole in the law allows insurers to determine what care is "necessary or appropriate."

An investigation by ProPublica found UnitedHealth Group was using algorithms to deny claims, a practice later deemed illegal in three states. United defended its claims program, arguing it ensures patients get safe, effective and affordable treatment.

David Lloyd, chief policy officer for the mental health advocacy organization Inseparable, said insurance companies should not be denying care using standards inconsistent with accepted clinical standards. He believes there are roles for both state and federal lawmakers to address the problem.

"We're encouraging policymakers across the board to take some common sense steps to ensure that health plans are ultimately covering the services that they promised to cover when you have health insurance," Lloyd emphasized.

Williams pointed to a bill recently introduced in the Colorado General Assembly as one path forward. The measure would require insurers to cover treatment using criteria developed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, or the American Association for Community Psychiatry.

"What we'd like to do is make it uniform," Williams stressed. "So that just like physical health there's a standard definition of medical necessity, so insurers and patients and doctors are all on the same page, and patients are more likely to get these critical services covered."