In Spina v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114887, (D.N.J. June 21, 2021), the court rejected both an insurer's and insured’s interpretation of when proof of loss was due under a long-term care policy and...more
This alert was featured in the March 2021 edition of The LHD/ERISA Advisor In Poisson v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177216 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 21, 2020), a California district court held that the contractual...more
An Illinois federal court recently held that the failure to identify a contractual limitations period in a benefits denial letter renders the limitations period unenforceable, even before applicable regulations were changed...more
The Supreme Court of the United States kicked off its 2019-2020 term on October 7, 2019, with several noteworthy cases on its docket. This term, some of the issues before the Court will likely have great historical...more
The Fifth Circuit concluded that a plan’s three-year contractual limitations period began to accrue when a beneficiary received a letter in 2008 that prominently displayed on the first page the monthly earnings used to...more
The Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued regulations that revise the ERISA claims procedure regulations for employee benefit plans that provide disability benefits (the “New Disability Claims Regulations” or “New Regulations”)....more
The big news this quarter is the U.S. Supreme Court’s acceptance of Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, an employment case likely to have major ramifications across the whole spectrum of class action litigation. The Court is set...more
In 2013, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that ERISA plans can impose shorter limitations periods than would otherwise be the case if the plan was silent. Nevertheless, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit...more
The Third Circuit recently held that ERISA administrative appeal denial letters must include plan-imposed time limits for commencing a lawsuit challenging the claim denial, and the failure to provide such notice warranted...more
Some, but far from all, employee benefit plans set a limit on the amount of time a participant has to file a lawsuit claiming benefits under the plan. Until recently, however, not all courts would recognize these plan...more
In a recently-issued decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that employee benefit plans may include a contractual limitations period for filing suit under ERISA §502(a)(1)(B) so long as that period is not...more