The story behind the Mental Health Parity Index is about more than just mental health. It represents a broader opportunity to rethink how we drive systemic transformation in healthcare: one that starts with access to data, and depends on collaboration to deliver lasting change.

A System Under Strain

In 2023, national healthcare expenditure was nearly $5 trillion, and is expected to reach 20% of GDP by 2032. Despite the scale, the system remains fragmented, opaque, and difficult to navigate.

• Employers fund a significant share of healthcare costs, but often lack access to meaningful data about where that money goes or how it correlates to outcomes.  

• Regulators are tasked with enforcing accountability, but have historically lacked the tools and transparency to do so effectively.  

• Consumers face wide variations in pricing, network access, and coverage types for identical services, and they are limited in their ability to compare options in advance. This lack of transparency fuels financial strain, with medical debts continuing to be a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S.

These underlying issues stem from the same core problem: until recently, the data simply wasn't accessible in a way that enabled transformational activities.

The Data Unlock: Why This Moment Matters

In 2022, new Health Plan Transparency rules required group health plans and insurers to publish machine-readable files that include negotiated rates for in-network services and allowed amounts for out-of-network providers. This marked a seismic shift in healthcare price and network transparency.

For the first time, the full scope of commercial healthcare pricing and network composition became visible.  

In our previous article, we highlighted how the Mental Health Parity Index plays a critical role in making this data not just available, but accessible. When data is understandable, it becomes actionable and can help influence policy, guide purchasing decisions, and improve life-saving care.

The opportunity doesn’t stop with mental health. The same data infrastructure can support use cases across the entire healthcare system: oncology, maternal health, chronic disease, primary care, and more. By making what’s been opaque finally visible, we can build toward greater transparency and help bend the cost curve through increased efficiency and effectiveness of the spending.

A Case for Cross-Sector Collaboration

The Mental Health Parity Index was the result of collaboration across advocacy, policy, data science, and technology:

• The Kennedy Forum spearheaded the effort and provided advocacy leadership

• The American Medical Association contributed coding and technical expertise

• Third Horizon led the data science and analytics efforts to unlock the data

• InterKnowlogy supported the design and development of the public-facing visualization tool

What made this partnership effective was both the range of expertise and the complimentary contributions of the parties involved. The collaboration remained focused on clarity, trust, and utility for the public good.

A Model Worth Expanding

While the Index focuses on mental health, the underlying data infrastructure spans the entire healthcare system. From oncology and maternal care to heart disease and primary care, there’s a broader opportunity to apply this model in ways that increase transparency, accelerate policy reform, and shift incentives toward better care.

National health organizations and nonprofits are well-positioned to take this approach further. With access to the right data and the right partners, they can transform complex datasets into tools that strengthen their advocacy efforts and improve healthcare outcomes.

The Mental Health Parity Index shows what’s possible. The foundation is in place. What’s needed now is focused collaboration and a commitment to translating advocacy into action at scale.

This is how we advance the public good in healthcare: surface the truth, empower stakeholders, and make accountability real.

Discover Third Horizon’s work in transforming health and social systems to better serve communities.

Learn more about how InterKnowlogy’s Enterprise Insights Platform powers tools like the Mental Health Parity Index — making complex data accessible, scalable, and actionable across industries.