Two decisions this week emphasize the importance of submitting treating physician and patient statements in support of an ERISA administrative appeal. For ERISA health cases involving medical necessity denials, an appeal which gets to the heart of why treatment was medically necessary is crucial and can actually determine the course of the lawsuit.
In Katherine P. v. Humana Health Plan, Inc., No. 19-50276, __F.3d__, 2020 WL 2479687 (5th Cir. May 14, 2020), the Fifth Circuit revived life into a claim by a young woman seeking mental health benefits for partial hospitalization treatment. Katherine received partial hospitalization treatment in 2012 for multiple mental health disorders including an eating disorder. Humana paid for the first 12 days of partial hospitalization treatment and then denied benefits, claiming such treatment was no longer medically necessary based on two Mihalik Criteria.
The Fifth Circuit found that judgment for Humana was improper because the administrative record showed a genuine dispute as to whether Katherine satisfied one of the Mihalik Criteria, ED.PM.4.2.