UnitedHealth has until June 16 to respond to a petition seeking a retrial of its win in a mental health coverage case, according to a May 26 order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
On March 22, the appellate court reversed a California federal judge's November 2020 order for UnitedHealth Group's behavioral health unit to reprocess 67,000 previously denied mental health and substance abuse claims. It also overturned the judge's underlying March 2019 ruling in the class-action lawsuit that the claims were improperly denied.
The appellate judges disagreed with the lower court judge that the payer abused its discretion in interpreting the health benefit plan's language.
"UBH’s interpretation — that the plans do not require consistency with the [generally accepted standard of care] — was not unreasonable," the court majority stated in its ruling.
A petition from class-action representatives was filed with the court May 5. The petition argues, among other things, that the appellate court's decision undermines the Employee Retirement Income Security Act "in ways that will have undeniable nationwide consequences."
Since the petition was filed, hospital and healthcare groups and state attorneys general have called for a rehearing of the case.