Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of physicians who have dropped out of Preferred Provider Organization (‘‘PPO’’) and Health Maintenance Organization (‘‘HMO’’) networks and attempted to negotiate their own financial reimbursement with insurance companies and self-funded health care plans related to medical treatment provided to participants whose plan are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (‘‘ERISA’’).

These moves have led to a corresponding increase in the number of health care benefit suits brought by out of-network physicians and treatment centers seeking to gain through litigation that which they could not get through direct negotiations with insurers and plan administrators—higher reimbursement amounts for health care treatment from ERISA-governed medical plans.

Originally published in Pension & Benefits Daily on October 27, 2014.