Arce

—The California Mental Health Parity Act (Health & Saf. Code, § 1374.72) mandates that every health care service plan provide coverage for the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of severe mental illnesses, including autism, under the same terms and conditions applied to other medical conditions. Appellant Andrew Arce (Arce), by and through his guardian ad litem Guillermo Arce, brought a class action suit under the unfair competition law (UCL) (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.) against respondents Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., and Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (collectively Kaiser). In his second amended complaint, Arce alleges that Kaiser breached its health plan contract and violated the Mental Health Parity Act by categorically denying coverage for behavioral therapy and speech therapy to plan members with autism spectrum disorders.

The trial court sustained Kaiser’s demurrer to the UCL claim without leave to amend based on the doctrine of judicial abstention and the lack of commonality among class members. We conclude that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer because there is a…