United Behavioral Wins Another Round Over Mental Health Coverage

United Behavioral Health notched another win in a long-running dispute over its internal guidelines for mental health coverage, when the Ninth Circuit instructed a district court to enter judgment for the insurer on certain issues.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday granted United’s request for a writ of mandamus, a remedy reserved for “extraordinary situations” including a district court’s failure to follow a mandate issued on appeal.

The Ninth Circuit explained that its August 2023 decision in the case “definitively resolved” the patients’ claims for wrongly denied benefits in favor of the insurer, and it ...