A recent ruling from a federal court in Arizona offers a lesson on the consequences of discovery abuse: The court imposed severe sanctions on an insurer for wrongfully withholding documents requested in discovery. The case of Sell v. Country Life Insurance Co., 2016 WL 3179461 (D. Ariz., June 1, 2016), involved a claim for disability […]
DeBofsky & Associates successfully challenged a forum selection clause in a recent ERISA case.
The recent case of Gooden v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 2016 WL 3059752 (E.D. Tenn. March 30, 2016) involved a familiar scenario – whether a “list bill” arrangement constitutes an ERISA plan.
In Halo v. Yale Health Plan, 2016 WL 1426291 (2nd Cir., April 12, 2016), the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed whether an Employee Retirement Income Security Act-governed health insurance plan’s failure to issue a benefit determination compliant with federal claims-processing regulations should be penalized and, if so, how. The U.S. District Court […]
The scope of pre-emption of state laws under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is so broad that it generally precludes recovery of any damages or remedies beyond the limited remedies enumerated in 29 U.S.C. Section 1132(a). Thus, the availability of any recompense in a denial of benefits case beyond the benefits claimed, plus […]
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Acc.Insur.Co., 134 S.Ct. 604 (December 16, 2013), which held that contractual limitations periods established by ERISA-governed employee benefit plans are enforceable, there has been much confusion about when such limitations periods commence and when they end. A recent ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals […]