NORTHRIDGE, CALIFORNIA / AGILITYPR.NEWS / May 27, 2022 / On May 24, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White entered an order finally approving a class action settlement in a lawsuit brought by Kantor & Kantor, LLP and co-counsel Kathryn M. Trepinski against defendant Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of a class of California residents:

(1) who were enrolled under an ERISA health plan issued or administered by Anthem,

(2) who had been diagnosed with an eating disorder and

(3) who had a request for eating disorder treatment processed through Anthem’s Utilization Review program.

A subclass consists of class members whose request for authorization for eating disorder treatment was denied by Anthem.

Under the settlement, qualifying subclass members could elect to have their denied claims reprocessed by Anthem under a revised Utilization Review program or, if they choose, receive a set payment, the amount of which is dependent on whether they continued treatment ($5,500) or discontinued treatment ($2,100) after Anthem’s denial.

All class members will benefit from the injunctive relief that is part of the settlement, which brings a number of Anthem’s business practices into compliance with the California Mental Health Parity Act.

 “I’m extremely gratified by this result, which will benefit Anthem insureds throughout the state who were wrongfully denied medically necessary treatment for their eating disorders” commented Lisa Kantor of Kantor & Kantor, LLP.

The next step in the settlement is the reprocessing of the claims of the class members who chose that option and the mailing of checks to those class members who chose the set payment.

The case is Bailey v. Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Ins. Co., Case No. 4:16-cv-04439-JSW, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.