Aetna Settles Depression Coverage Class Suit for $6.2M

Aetna Inc. will pay $6.2 million to be rid of a class action challenging its refusal to cover transcranial magnetic stimulation, a noninvasive procedure used to treat depression.

The proposed deal would reimburse about 1,100 patients whose claims were denied without requiring them to submit to reprocessing by the insurer, the parties said in a Feb. 15 motion for court approval. This, coupled with Aetna’s 2016 decision to lift its blanket exclusion for the treatment, is a “tremendous victory” for the patients, who stand to receive about 70 percent of what they likely would have received upon successful reprocessing, the ...