UnitedHealthcare and United Behavioral Health agreed to the settlement to resolve allegations that they illegally denied coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatments. The allegations are related to business practices they no longer use, parent company UnitedHealth Group said.
UnitedHealthcare is instituting a new policy beginning July 1 that changes how the payer assesses emergency department claims, allowing it to retroactively deny ones it deems "non-emergent" or not an emergency. The American College of Emergency Physicians has made its opposition clear, stating the policy may violate federal law.
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.