Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project

What Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project does

Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project (MHAIP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2009 in Lafayette, California by Dr. Karen Fessel, DrPH, after her own experience securing insurance coverage for her son with Asperger's. Originally launched as the Autism Health Insurance Project, the organization rebranded and expanded its scope to cover mental health parity more broadly. It serves three primary constituencies: families of children with autism spectrum disorders and mental health conditions seeking insurance coverage for medically necessary treatments, providers (notably ABA and autism service providers), and facilities such as residential treatment centers and outdoor behavioral healthcare programs. Service offerings include insurance appeals and grievance writing, pre-authorization and ongoing authorization support, claims management and billing, single case agreement negotiations, and external/independent medical review requests. The organization fields more than 1,000 calls and emails per year from families and operates across at least a dozen U.S. states including California, Texas, Kentucky, Colorado, Wisconsin, and New Jersey.

Name

Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project

Legal name

Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project

Website

https://mhautism.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project (MHAIP) is a Lafayette, California 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps families, providers, and facilities secure health insurance coverage for autism and mental health treatments through appeals, pre-authorizations, and claims recovery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Moraga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: MHAIP is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They accept donations through PayPal, Benevity workplace giving, Amazon Smile, eBay charity, and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). They have established the Feda and Mohammed Almaliti Memorial Fund for scholarships.
2. Sliding Scale Fee Services: The organization provides services to families on a sliding scale fee basis. They offer free initial consultations and case reviews. Services include appeals, regulatory intervention, and external reviews.
3. Hourly Rate Services: For facilities and providers, MHAIP charges hourly rates for services including pre-authorizations, ongoing utilization review, billing, and appeals. They offer discounts to non-profits.
4. Contingency-Based Services: Some services for facilities are available on a contingency basis depending on money recovered. They recover unpaid claims for providers who are owed in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

MHAIP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy organization that helps families, providers, and facilities obtain medically necessary mental health and autism treatments through health insurance. Its core services include insurance appeals and grievance writing, pre-authorization and ongoing authorization assistance, claims management and billing support, single case agreement facilitation, external and independent medical review requests, and consultation and training for providers. Services are delivered on a sliding scale for families and on hourly or contingency bases for providers and facilities.

Product overview

Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project is a non-profit advocacy organization founded in 2009 that operates as a single, unified service offering rather than a platform. The organization provides comprehensive insurance navigation and advocacy services including appeals and grievance filing, pre-authorization assistance, claims management, external review requests, and provider/facility consultation. All services are designed to help families, providers, and facilities obtain medically necessary treatments for autism spectrum disorders and mental health conditions through health insurance. The organization offers sliding scale fees for low-income families and has developed tools like the Authorizations and Appeals Playbook for ABA providers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Feda Almaliti Memorial Fund: A scholarship fund established in memory of board member Feda Almaliti and her son Mohammed, who died in a house fire. The fund provides scholarships for direct service advocacy for families needing help with appeals.

Products and services

• Insurance Appeals and Grievance Services Assistance to families with filing insurance appeals and grievances on behalf of individuals seeking mental health and autism treatments, including handling regulatory intervention and external reviews with state regulators.
• Pre-Authorization and Ongoing Authorization Services Conducts pre-authorization and ongoing authorization services for families, providers, and facilities to secure insurance coverage for autism and mental health treatments.
• Claims Management and Billing Services Submits and manages insurance claims and medical records, follows up on unpaid claims, and conducts billing services on behalf of facilities and providers.
• Single Case Agreement Assistance Helps families request single case agreements with out-of-network providers when health plans lack adequate in-network providers for autism or mental health services.
• External/Independent Medical Review Requests Writes and submits requests for independent external review with state regulators for families who have exhausted internal appeals processes.
• Provider and Facility Consultation and Training Provides advice, webinars, trainings, and consultation services to assist providers and facilities with insurance coverage and unpaid claims recovery.
• Residential Treatment Center Navigation Assists families in navigating insurance requirements for residential treatment center admissions, including documentation, pre-authorization, and single case agreements.
• Wilderness Program Insurance Navigation Advises wilderness programs on obtaining insurance coverage for families, handling pre-authorizations, billing, and appeals for outdoor behavioral healthcare programs.
• Authorizations and Appeals Playbook for ABA Providers A comprehensive guide developed by MHAIP to help Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) providers navigate authorizations and appeals processes with health insurers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $100,000 recovered for individual families in mental health treatment coverage cases
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BenevityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMHAIP is a recognized cause through the corporate employer-matching philanthropic site Benevity, allowing employees to donate through workplace giving programs with employer matching.
• PayPal Giving FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMHAIP is a registered charity with PayPal Giving Fund, allowing donors to contribute without fees being deducted.
• Amazon SmileminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon Smile program allows shoppers to select MHAIP to receive a percentage of purchase prices when shopping on Amazon.com.
• Combined Federal Campaign (CFC)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCFC allows federal employees to contribute to MHAIP through payroll deductions under campaign code 88784.
• California Insurance Brokers (Ethelynn Bates, Phyllis Hyde, Kelley Jensen)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCertified health insurance brokers in California that MHAIP refers families to for help selecting appropriate health plans through ACA exchanges.
• National Attorney NetworkcoreOthersNational team of attorneys that MHAIP refers families to when internal appeals are exhausted. Many work on contingency basis.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Kennedy Forum: Behavioral health parity-focused foundation founded by Patrick Kennedy. Directly comparable through its dedicated emphasis on MHPAEA enforcement and parity law advocacy — adjacent to MHAIP's regulatory expertise.
• Patient Advocate Foundation: National nonprofit providing case management, insurance navigation, and financial aid to patients with chronic and serious illnesses. Directly comparable operating model — paid and pro-bono insurance advocacy delivered through trained case managers.
• The Arc of the United States: National nonprofit advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, on issues including benefits access. Comparable advocacy focus on disability populations overlapping with MHAIP's ASD constituency.
• Autism Speaks: Major autism advocacy nonprofit focused on research, advocacy, and family services. Comparable as a peer ASD advocacy organization, with significant scale and policy influence — though its remit is research and awareness rather than direct insurance-appeal services.
• Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN): Disability-led autism advocacy organization focused on policy, rights, and community. Comparable peer in autism advocacy space, though operating from a neurodiversity-rights perspective distinct from MHAIP's parent-driven insurance navigation lens.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): The largest US grassroots mental health advocacy nonprofit, providing education, support groups, and policy advocacy. Highly comparable as a peer mental health advocacy organization, though broader in scope and lacking MHAIP's specialized insurance-appeals focus.
• Mental Health America: National mental health advocacy nonprofit focused on screening, education, and policy reform. Comparable as a peer mental health nonprofit with strong policy/parity expertise, though MHA focuses more on screening/education than direct appeals.

Broad incumbents

• National Disability Rights Network: National membership organization for the federally funded Protection & Advocacy (P&A) system serving people with disabilities. Comparable peer in disability advocacy and benefits navigation, with broader mandate (legal protection across all disability domains).

Emerging players

• Solace: For-profit digital insurance-navigation platform helping patients navigate and appeal coverage decisions. Comparable emerging player attacking the same insurance-appeals pain point, but with venture-backed technology leverage rather than nonprofit advocacy delivery.
• Wayfound Mental Health: Early-stage digital mental health insurance navigation and benefits support service. Emerging peer pursuing a technology-enabled version of the same appeal-writing and parity navigation work MHAIP delivers manually.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/asdinsurance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mental Health & Autism Insurance Project