States Join Call for Rehearing in Mental Health Coverage Appeal

More than a dozen state attorneys general called on the Ninth Circuit to rethink its recent decision largely rejecting a lawsuit accusing United Behavioral Health of using faulty internal guidelines to limit mental health coverage.

The states object to the US Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit’s January decision that reprocessing denied benefit claims isn’t an appropriate remedy for a class suit filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Reprocessing is the “natural and proper remedy” in a case challenging an insurer’s internal coverage guidelines, and the court’s decision to the contrary eliminates an important legal remedy that ...