ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King has issued a $20 million fine to be split among 22 different insurance companies.

King’s office said the companies violated the state’s Mental Health Parity Act, which requires mental health care to be treated – and billed – the same as physical and surgical healthcare.

While the identities of the 22 insurers are unknown for now, King’s office noted it found 6,000 combined violations of the state’s parity law. They ranged from inconsistent identification and application of benefit classifications to reprocessing of claims and applications of prior authorization for services not identified as requiring such authorization.

In a statement, King was blunt in his explanation of the fines.

“The time to get in compl

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