UnitedHealth Ordered to Rethink $230,000 Mental Health Bill

UnitedHealth Group Inc. units must reconsider whether to cover $230,000 in mental health treatments for a teenager with a history of self-harming behaviors, according to a federal court opinion calling the insurer’s policy on wilderness therapy programs ambiguous and arbitrary.

The court took issue with UnitedHealth’s policy of treating wilderness therapy programs—which seek to treat young people with behavioral or substance abuse issues by combining traditional therapy methods with outdoor activities such as hiking and camping—as “unproven” and thus not covered. The coverage policy defines these programs using terms like “some, may, and typically,” making it ...