A recent study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found twenty to thirty percent of the population is best suited to benefit from long-term care coverage. Setting aside money for retirement is just one step towards future financial security. In addition to funding retirement accounts, a long-term care insurance policy may provide additional […]
Disability is not always based on a single medical condition. Many individuals suffer from multiple impairments; and while no single condition may be disabling, the combined co-morbidity of disparate impairments justify an entitlement to disability benefits. That was the lesson taught by Curtis v. Hartford Life & Acc.Ins.Co. 2014 WL 4185233 (N.D.Ill. August 20, 2014) (attached) […]
A recent ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates that the context of words can make a dramatic difference in the interpretation of a pension plan. In Schane v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union Local 710 Pension Fund, 2014 U.S.App.LEXIS 14118 (7th Cir. July 23), the appeals court established that the word […]
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? -Juvenal, The Satires The translation of the title to this blog is “who watches the watchmen?” That question needs to be asked in relation to a critical feature of the Affordable Care Act – the availability of independent external review of health benefit claim denials. See, https://www.healthcare.gov/how-do-i-appeal-a-health-insurance-companys-decision/ The availability of an […]
In ERISA litigation, the availability of an attorney fee award pursuant to 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(g) gives an incentive to attorneys to take on such difficult cases. But what happens if a court fails to decide the matter, but instead, remands the case to reconsider the issues presented. In Gross v. Sun Life Assur.Co. of Canada, […]
Can taking vitamins recommended by a physician trigger a pre-existing condition exclusion in a disability insurance policy? That was the holding in Kutten v. Sun Life Assur.Co. of Canada, 2014 WL 3562784 (8th Cir. July 21, 2014) where the court found that taking Vitamin A constituted “medical treatment” sufficient to allow an insurer to avoid […]
Can you be working and disabled at the same time? That was the question answered in Mirocha v. Metro.Life Ins.Co., 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 98025 (N.D.Ill. July 18, 2014), which found that even though the plaintiff, Joseph Mirocha, had been discharged from his position as an electrical supervisor at Palos Community Hospital in the Chicago suburbs, he […]
A recently issued unpublished ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Holbrooks v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2014 U.S.App.LEXIS 12741 (10th Cir. July 7, 2014)(unpublished), departed from two contrary appellate rulings in determining that veterans’ benefits are offset table from long-term disability payments as “other income benefits.” Typically, in order to […]
If an insured is making a claim under a disability insurance policy that he or she is unable to perform the duties of their occupation, does the policy require a showing that the claimant is unable to perform all of the job duties or is a showing of an inability to perform any material job […]
A recent federal court ruling in Michigan outlined the scope of a provision in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that exempts “church plans” from being subject to Employee Retirement Income Security Act funding and reporting requirements. In Overall v. Ascension, 2014 WL 1908428, 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 65418 (E.D.Mich. May 13, 2014), the plaintiff brought a […]
Both the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act have rules that prevent assignments of retirement benefits in order to ensure that retirees actually receive the benefits that they were promised. ERISA flatly states that “each pension plan” must provide that benefits under the plan cannot be “assigned or alienated.” There are […]
That question was answered in the affirmative in Yasko v. Reliance Standard Life Ins.Co., 2014 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 88469 (N.D.Ill. June 30, 2014), a case involving accidental death insurance that was litigated by DeBofsky, Sherman & Casciari. See, /DeBofsky-Associates-Receives-Favorable-Ruling-in-Accidental-Death-Insurance-Case.shtml. Alan Yasko, a physician, died of a pulmonary embolism shortly after flying from Chicago to a medical conference […]