An online mental health care provider has agreed to a $740,000 settlement, including more than a half-million dollars in restitution to some 16,500 New York customers, for maintaining “a long and burdensome” cancellation process, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday.
In a statement, the attorney general’s office said an investigation found the Delaware-based provider Cerebral often “took days” to process cancellation requests — and even “charged patients for services never provided.”
“Making New Yorkers withstand stressful and extended delays to cancel a subscription for mental health coverage is unacceptable,” James said in a statement Thursday. “It is illegal and unfair to make consumers spend extra time or jump through hoops to try to cancel a subscription they no longer need. The law is clear that companies must make it easy and simple to end a subscription and my office will continue to hold them to that standard.”
The attorney general’s office said Cerebral subscriptions “provided consumers with access to virtual appointments” with a variety of providers, including “licensed therapists, counselors, coaches, and individuals who are duly licensed and can prescribe medication.” James said her office opened the investigation after numerous complaints from consumers who said they could not cancel their subscriptions, despite repeated efforts.
The investigation found that Cerebral “informed subscribers they could cancel by email,” but then made them take “a number of additional steps.”
Among the steps Cerebral mandated were “a multi-question survey” before subscribers had their requests processed, James said.
In an emailed statement, Cerebral said: “We are pleased to report that Cerebral has reached a settlement with the NYAG to close its investigation into Cerebral’s business practices. The Company’s continued commitment to evolving and improving its compliance practices, and our clinician-led leadership team’s unwavering commitment to patient safety and privacy have been integral to our reaching this resolution with the NYAG. Cerebral
