Editor’s Overview - This month we review the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Montanile v. Board of Trustees of National Elevator Industries Health Benefit Plan where the Supreme Court considered the scope of...more
Having settled into the new year, we reflect on decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 that are likely to have a significant impact in the world of pension and welfare employee benefits and, in some cases, already have...more
The employee benefits issues to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court continue to be of great significance to plan sponsors and fiduciaries. This month we review the Court's employee benefit decisions from 2013 and also...more
Looking back at the recently-completed 2012-2013 Supreme Court term, employers should have reason to feel good about how things turned out. In fact, of the six major decisions that impact employers and can be categorized in...more
Summary - In U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, the US Supreme Court recently considered whether certain equitable defenses override the terms of a welfare plan in a plan fiduciary's suit for reimbursement under §...more
As the United States Supreme Court’s 2012-2013 term drew to a close at the end of June, commentators observed a continuing gradual but perceptible shift to the right by the Court. The Roberts Court is generally viewed as...more
In Quest Diagnostics v. Bomani, et al., 11-CV-00951 (D. Conn., June 19, 2013), the court granted Quest Diagnostic’s (“Quest”) motion for summary judgment, ruling that Quest, as the fiduciary to its self-insured medical plan,...more
On the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s recent holding in U.S. Airways v. McCutchen, where the Court held that a group health plan’s reimbursement rights are not automatically subject to equitable defenses, it...more
Health Care Reform: Guidance on Required Future Modifications to SBC, Other Issues - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidance...more
Plan sponsors, particularly those that sponsor self-funded health plans, should review plan document provisions in light of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen. In...more
In This Issue: - Supreme Court Update: Where Plan Reimbursement Or Recovery Terms Are Ambiguous Or Silent,Equitable Doctrines May Fill The Gaps: US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, 569 U.S. ___ (2013). In an...more
In a prior blog, I discussed the importance of including unambiguous reimbursement rights in health plan documents in order to manage healthcare costs. The enforceability of such rights was confirmed by the United States...more
On April 16, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in US Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen (No. 11–1285), deciding the issue of whether equitable defenses, such as the principle of unjust enrichment, can override the...more
On April 16, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen finding in favor of U.S. Airways in its quest to recover $66,866 in medical expenses incurred by its employee as a result of a...more
The United States Supreme Court ruled today that absent an express provision to the contrary, the amount an ERISA plan can recover from a plan participant’s lawsuit against a third-party tortfeasor must be reduced...more
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen in which the Court unanimously ruled that a clearly drafted reimbursement clause will trump all equitable defenses....more
The supremacy of a written ERISA -governed plan still reigns as the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of an appellate court which had held that a court in equity can ignore unambiguous subrogation reimbursement language,...more