Wells v. Anthem Health Plans of Maine

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedMay 9, 2006
DocketCUMcv-04-574
StatusUnpublished

This text of Wells v. Anthem Health Plans of Maine (Wells v. Anthem Health Plans of Maine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wells v. Anthem Health Plans of Maine, (Me. Super. Ct. 2006).

Opinion

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Cumberland, ss . s- . . , - , 1. , :-:. Civil Action Docket No. CV-04-574

ROY WELLS,

Plaintiff DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ANTHEM HEALTH PLANS OF MAINE, INC.,

Defendant

The defendant moves for summary judgment as to all counts and to strike

affidavits filed by plaintiff and portions of the plaintiff's Statement of Material Fact.

The court concurs with defendant's counsel that the plaintiff's voluminous

response is not in keeping with the intent of the present rule on summary judgment

practice, M.R.Civ.P. 56, and ignores the admonitions of the Law Court in Stanley v.

Hancock County Commissioners, 2004 ME 157, 864 A.2d 169..'

I. BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Roy Wells, is employed by the State of Maine and enrolled in

Anthem's HMO choice plan in April 2001. Under the terms of Wells' policy, Anthem

pays for medically necessary2health care, including pharmaceutical prescriptions. At

The court also notes that the plaintiff filed a memorandum in opposition to defendant's Motion to Strike that exceeded the page limitations of M.R.Civ.P. 7(f0 without first seeking the court's authorization to do so. A motion to exceed page limitations that is filed simultaneously with the memorandum is in violation of the rule that clearly requires a party to obtain "prior leave of court."

At the time Wells enrolled in the health plan, his certificate of coverage defined the terms medical necessity and medically necessary as: A service is defined as medically necessary if it meets all the following requirements: the time Wells enrolled in Anthem's plan, he suffered from migraines and took a

number of headache medications, including daily Zomig. The National Headache

Foundation recommends that Zomig be taken no more than 8 treatment days in a

month or 2 treatment days in a week.

In May 2001, Anthem contracted with Anthem Prescription Management

("APM) to manage drug benefits for Anthem members. APM placed a 6 tablet-per-

month quality edit on Zomig due to findings made by APM's Pharmacy and

Therapeutics Committee ("P&T Committee"). Under the Zomig quality edit, an

Anthem member would automatically be approved for payment of 6 tablets for 30 days.

If the member requested more than 6 per month, the member or his doctor could

request an override of up to 12 tablets per month. If the member requested more than

12 tablets per month, the member must apply directly to Anthem. Anthem would

1. Is directly related to the diagnosis and/or treatment of your symptoms, signs condition, illness, diseases or injuries; 2. Is consistent with the appropriate medical policy statement; 3. Is the least costly, equally effective alternative that can be safely provided for you; 4. Is accepted medical practice 5. Is not primarily for ihe convenience of the member, provider or professional. We reserve the right to determine medical necessity. We do not provide benefits of any health care service that are not medically necessary except for preventive or routine health services that are specifically listed as covered in this contract. The determination of medical necessity is subject to your right to appeal.

In 2001, the Maine legislature enacted a definition of "medically necessary health care" for purposes of health care insurance, leading Anthem to amend its definition of medically necessary to be consistent with the statute. Anthem mailed a notice of amendment to Wells in July 2002. The statutory definition of medically necessary health care provides as follows:

"Medically necessary health care" means health care services or products provided to an enrollee for the purpose of preventing, diagnosing or treating an illness, injury or disease or the symptoms of an illness, injury or disease in a manner that is: A. Consistent with generally accepted standards of medical practice; B. Clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, extent, site and duration; C. Demonstrated through scientific evidence to be effective in improving health outcomes; C. Representative of "best practices" in the medical profession; and D. Not rimarily for the convenience of the enrollee or physician or E other healt care practitioner.

24-A M.R.S.A. § 4301-A (10-A) (2005). approve the request, if as provided in the member's health plan certificate, the

member's doctor demonstrated that it was medically necessary. In May 2001, APM sent

a letter to the plaintiff informing h m of the guidelines on Zomig's quantity edit.

Also in May 2001, APM notified Dr. Seth Kolkin, Wells's treating neurologist for

headaches and migraines, that APM established quality edits on various drugs

including Zomig. The letter informed Dr. Kolkin how to receive an override. On May

16,2001, Dr. Kollun wrote indicating that daily Zomig provided successful results for

Wells. Dr. Kolkin's letter did not address any of the definitional elements of "medically

necessary" as set forth in Wells's health insurance certificate. In response to this letter,

on May 30,2001, APM sent Dr. Kolkin and Wells a letter approving payment for an

override of 12 tablets per month. As of that date, Wells still had approximately a two-

month supply of daily Zomig.

On August 3, 2001, a staff member worlung at Dr. Kolkin's office contacted APM

to request a 30-day supply of Zomig for Wells. APM informed the staff member that

APM previously approved payment of 12 Zomig tablets per month and that this latest

request would be forwarded to Anthem for review. Although no medical literature

existed stating that prescribing daily Zomig constituted accepted medical practice, three

days later, Anthem's medical director, Maxwell Barus, M.D., reviewed the claim and

approved it claim on a temporary basis. In a letter dated August 8,2001, Anthem wrote

to Dr. Kolkin informing h m of the temporary approval and suggested that Wells and

his treating physician work together to "implement a plan within the [APM.]

guidelines." Dr. Kollun, however, did not see Wells from May 2001 to March 2005 and

never contacted Dr. Barus.

In September 2001, after Dr. Barus and Anthem received no response to Barus's

letter of August 8th Anthem's approval reverted to a 12 tablet per month supply as , approved by APM in 2001. On September 25,2001, a staff person at Dr. Kolkin's office

contacted Anthem inquiring about the criteria used by Anthem for payment of Zomig

in the amount requested for Wells. The Anthem representative apparently

misunderstood the request and treated the call as an appeal regarding Wells's Zomig

reimbursement. The appeal forms reached Dr. Kolkin's office about a month after the

original call even though the Anthem representative said that appeal forms would be

sent immediately. On October 30, 2001, Dr. Kolkin sent a "Request to Appeal

Decision-First Level" to Anthem.

In response to this appeal, and as required by Maine Bureau of Insurance

regulations, on November 1,2001, Anthem sent letters to Wells's doctors, Dr. Kolkin

and Dr. Van Summern (Wells's primary care physician) requesting all of Wells's

medical records. Anthem did not receive a prompt response from Dr. Van Summern.

Anthem contacted him again. Anthem received Wells's medical records from both

doctors by November 8,2001.

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