“This case is about disability discrimination in the provision of healthcare coverage. Specifically, this case is about a health insurance company’s categorical exclusion of prescription medication for the treatment of obesity and the resultant discrimination against people with the disability of obesity.”
“This type of discrimination is not new; rather, it follows from a long history of prejudice, exclusion, and stigmatization of people with disabilities in general and of people diagnosed with obesity, in particular. The Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) Section 1557, 42 U.S.C. § 18116, protects individuals with disabilities—including those diagnosed with obesity—from such discrimination in the design and administration of their health coverage. This case seeks to enforce those protections.”
“For people diagnosed with obesity, historic discrimination often took the form of excluding coverage because their condition was viewed as “voluntary” or a “lack of willpower.” Today, it is widely accepted that obesity is a chronic medical disease, not
an attitudinal state that can be addressed with “better choices” or more “willpower.”
Case: Jamie Whittemore v. Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, US District Court, District of Maine, Complaint
If the plaintiffs prevail you can expect more employers will adopt Rx Reference Based Pricing
