UnitedHealthcare’s Claim Denial Is Invalid Without Remand Order

United Healthcare Insurance Co.'s second decision declining to cover a teenager’s $175,000 mental health and substance abuse treatments had no legal effect because the matter was never properly remanded to the insurer, a Utah federal judge said.

The order by Judge Jill N. Parrish considered an “odd question” posed by the five-year-old lawsuit’s various twists and turns: what effect does United’s most recent claim denial have absent a remand order from her court? Parrish concluded the insurer’s decision had “no legal effect” because neither she nor the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit directly remanded the dispute to ...