Last week, the Washington State Supreme Court heard oral arguments in  P.E.L. v. Premera Blue Cross_,  a pivotal mental health parity case that would affect the ability of Washington residents to legally challenge denials of mental health services for insurance bought through the Exchange. In this case, Premera denied a minor mental health care at a residential mental health treatment center and argued that federal and state law does not permit legal challenges for treatment that is excluded from the contract. NoHLA submitted a “friend of the court” brief arguing the exclusion was inappropriate under the state and federal mental health parity laws and supporting the plaintiff’s right to sue Premera for breach of contract. When asked during oral argument about the ramifications if the court did not rule in the plaintiff’s favor, attorney Ele Hamburger said, “That result would be disastrous, not only for our client, but for thousands of  consumers across the country.” We will let you know the court’s decision and in the meantime,  you can see the oral arguments and other questions from the court. Spoiler alert: there were many!