They Couldn’t Access Mental Health Care When They Needed It. Now They’re Suing Their Insurer.

ProPublicaCenter-LeftEN 6 min read 100% complete by Max BlauJanuary 9, 2026 at 11:00 AM

AI Summary

long article 6 min

New York City employees Nimrod Shimrony and Valeria Calderón are lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit filed in late 2024 against EmblemHealth, the most popular health plan for city employees. The lawsuit alleges that EmblemHealth's inaccurate provider directory misled them about the availability of in-network mental health care, forcing them to delay or forgo treatment, or pay for costlier out-of-network providers. Shimrony and Calderón, both seeking mental health support after personal crises, were unable to find therapists listed as in-network. The lawsuit cites ProPublica's "America's Mental Barrier" series, which investigated the prevalence of "ghost networks" and the limited consequences insurers face for directory errors that hinder access to mental health care. The suit seeks class-action status, highlighting the widespread issue of deceptive provider networks and their impact on patients.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

ProPublica ×240% New York City Fire Department 50% New York City ×360% EmblemHealth ×270% Nimrod Shimrony ×480% Valeria Calderón ×580%

Keywords

mental health care 100% insurance 90% provider directory 80% in-network provider 80% lawsuit 70% emblemhealth 70% out-of-network provider 60% ghost networks 60% mental health 50% access to care 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.60

Source Transparency

Source

ProPublica

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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mental health care insurance provider directory in-network provider lawsuit emblemhealth out-of-network provider ghost networks mental health access to care

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