U.S. Department of Labor Settles Unprecedented Lawsuit Against United Healthcare for Alleged Violations of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

In the clearest indication yet of the increased enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) under the Biden-Harris administration, two settlement agreements filed on August 11 provide that United Healthcare Insurance Co., United Behavioral Health, and Oxford Health Insurance Inc. (collectively, “United”) will together pay more than $15.6 million to settle allegations they violated the federal mental health parity law. The settlements in the case, Walsh v. United Behavioral Health, include $2.5 million to resolve claims brought by the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), $1.1 million for claims brought by the New York Attorney General, over $2 million in penalties, and $10 million from private litigants. The complaints from the New York Attorney General and class of private litigants paralleled the allegations raised in DOL’s complaint (brought under Chapter 748 of the Laws of 2006 (“Timothy’s Law”) (New York State’s state-level parity law) and 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3), respectively).