Psychiatrists lack standing in insurance dispute, circuit finds

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to let psychiatrists or psychiatrists’ professional groups sue on behalf of their patients under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).

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A U.S. District judge in Connecticut said the plaintiffs in the case, American Psychiatric Association v. Anthem Health Plans (Case Number 14-3993-cv), lacked the standing to sue.

A two-judge 2nd Circuit panel upheld the district court finding, according to an article by Mark Hamblett in the New York Law Journal, a publication owned by ALM, the company that owns LifeHealthPro.com.

The MHPAEA fails to include health care providers on the list of parties with the standing to sue over alleged MHPAEA violations, according to an opinion by Judge John Walker, one of the 2nd Circuit judges who reviewed the case.

An interpretation in Lexmark International v. Static Control Components, a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case, prevents courts from using “third-party prudential considerations” to expand a congressionally created list of parties with the standing to bring a suit, Walker said.