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April 15, 2021

AHIP Challenges West Coast Decision related to Behavioral Health and ERISA

America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) filed an amicus brief in Wit v. United Behavioral Health (UBH) (Cause No. 20-17363, 9th Cir) asking the 9th Circuit  to reverse a decision involving plan administrators’ ability to oversee and manage employer-sponsored plans under ERISA. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Spero, J) held that guidelines used by UBH to assess behavioral health claims were flawed, certified a class, and required UBH to re-process nearly 67,000 claims with no finding that the class members had suffered an injury and ordered UBH to use court-imposed behavioral health guidelines for the next 10 years. AHIP argued that the trial court decision is contrary to the letter and spirit/intent of ERISA.