United Healthcare’s ‘Doozy’ of Anorexia Coverage Denial Reversed

United Healthcare Insurance Co. wrongly refused to cover partial-hospitalization treatments for a teenage girl with anorexia, the Fifth Circuit said Thursday in an opinion reversing the insurer’s post-trial victory and requiring it to pay benefits.

United’s letter declining to cover the child’s care was filled with incorrect and irrelevant statements that were contradicted by the medical evidence, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said. The insurer misrepresented the opinions of the child’s doctors, incorrectly reported that she had achieved 100% of her ideal body weight, and told the child, “You are better"—a line the court derided ...