On December 1, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case of Mary C. Fontaine v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The issue before the court was whether an Illinois insurance regulation banning discretionary clauses in health and disability insurance policies survives ERISA preemption claims. The lower court ruled in Fontaine’s favor.
The oral argument may be heard at
Lawyers who represent employees in severance negotiations should be aware and take heed of the recent New York federal court ruling in Schuyler v. Sun Life Assurance Co., 2023 WL 2388757 (S.D. N.Y., March 7, 2023). That case illustrated a dangerous pitfall that may unwittingly result in unintended unfortunate consequences based on the court’s finding that an employee’s release of her employer also waived the employee’s right to sue her disability insurer. […]
Accessing mental health treatment can be difficult, even with health insurance. Critical laws are in place to expand access to mental health treatment by requiring equal coverage of mental health and medical/surgical care. […]
The outcome of Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases often turns on how courts interpret the meaning of specific benefit plan terms. The recently decided case of Stein v. Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on March 16, illustrates what happens when plan terms are unclear and can have different meanings. […]
DeBofsky Law is proud to announce that its founder, Mark D. DeBofsky, has been appointed as a member of the 2023 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council.
There is no provision in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 mandating that claimants must exhaust internal appeals as a precondition to filing a lawsuit to challenge a claim denial. Nonetheless, most courts have required claimants to exhaust prelitigation appeals before their cases may be heard in court. […]
On Jan. 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit withdrew its prior memorandum disposition in Wit v. United Behavioral Health and replaced it with an entirely new opinion. […]