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- Harlick v. Blue Shield: What does it really mean?
- How this decision will help eating disorder patients get insurance coverage for treatment.
- How providers should be using this decision to advocate for coverage for treatment.
- How the decision can be used outside California.
- The role of the Mental Health Parity Act: Benefits and Drawbacks.
- The possiblity for using the Harlick decision in litigation across the country.
On August 26, 2011, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal issued the landmark decision in Harlick v. Blue Shield, holding that the California Mental Health Parity statute requires insurance plans to cover all medically necessary treatment for eating disorders. This presentation will address the impact of this decision on the availability of insurance coverage for those seeking treatment for eating disorders, both in California and across the country. The presentation will also address the role of the Federal Mental Health Parity Act.
Many who suffer from eating disorders need to access their health insurance in order to get treatment. The process of getting an insurance company to cover treatment can be extremely frustrating, as policies have traditionally discriminated against mental health in the breadth and scope of coverage. In response to this discrimination, many states have passed mental health parity statutes. The California statute became effective in 2001 and requires coverage of all medically necessary treatment for certain types of severe mental illnesses, including bulimia and anorexia. This summer, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, in the landmark decision entitled Harlick v. Blue Shield, held that the Blue Shield exclusion of residential treatment violated this statute. This presentation will address how the Harlick decision will help eating disorder patients get insurance coverage for treatment, how providers should be using the decision to advocate for coverage, how the decision can be used outside of California, and how the Federal Mental Health Parity Act impacts the coverage issue.
Lisa Kantor has been practicing law for over thirty years, recently becoming the country’s premier advocate for patients with eating disorders who have been denied benefits by their health insurance carrier. Ms. Kantor has obtained several key victories for clients with eating disorders including cases that have changed the law in California. Partner Lisa Kantor's devotion to her work lead her all the way to the U.S. District Court of Appeals, creating one of the most influential decisions of our time, and paving the way to making treatment and recovery for various types of mental illnesses attainable.
