In O.S.T. v. Regence BlueShield, the Washington Supreme Court held that Regence’s exclusion of neurodevelopmental therapies (NDT) in individual policies violated the mental health parity act, RCW 48.44.341. The Court rejected Regence’s reliance on an earlier statute, RCW 48.44.450, which mandates NDT to children under seven in group plans only. The named plaintiffs were autistic children, aged six, who were denied coverage for NDT under their individual plans. Regence argued that the denial was authorized by RCW 48.44.450, which is more specific than RCW 48.44.341. The Court concluded that the two statutes do not conflict. The former sets the floor on required coverage in group plans for children under seven. The latter sets a higher floor by requiring parity for mental health services in all plans.
