A woman from Maine has filed a class action lawsuit against Cigna Insurance Company for failing to cover prescription medications used to treat obesity.
Jamie Whittemore claims that Cigna refused to cover her for the medication Zepbound, which her doctor prescribed to treat her obesity, in violation of the anti-discrimination law contained in the Affordable Care Act.
According to one of Whittemore’s attorneys, Jeffrey Young, the lawsuit is the first of its kind in the nation.
“So the basis of our suit is that our client has been discriminated against on the basis of disability by the denial of the insurer to provide coverage for obesity,” Young said.
Three legal firms in Washington state, Minnesota, and Maine brought the lawsuit on behalf of a class of Cigna enrollees nationwide who were diagnosed with obesity.
A request for comment from Cigna was not answered right away.
“Our essential claim here is that under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers cannot discriminate on the basis of disability and choose to cover one disability or provide some coverage but not other coverage,” Young said.
Whittemore has also filed a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Maine Human Rights Act against her employer, the University of Maine system, because her employer’s Cigna insurance plan did not cover the treatment, even though other Cigna plans do cover the medications.