Progress! –
MARCH 18, 2019 – The ruling came in the case of Wit v. United Behavioral Health (UBH). A federal court in Northern California found that UBH, which manages behavioral health services for UnitedHealthcare and other health insurers, rejected the insurance claims of tens of thousands of people seeking mental health and substance use disorder treatment based on defective medical review criteria. In other words, the largest managed behavioral health care company in the country was found liable for protecting its bottom line at the expense of its members.
What this case really boils down to, of course, is discrimination and the perpetuation of a separate and unequal system of care that would never be tolerated for the treatment of cancer or heart disease. For the mental health and addiction communities, this ruling shines a much-needed spotlight on the insidious nature by which insurers deny care for those most vulnerable to death by suicide or overdose.
