Kantor & Kantor

June 6, 2019

UnitedHealth Group Asks the Supreme Court to Allow Cross-Plan Offsetting

In recent years, UnitedHealth Group has ramped up its practice of recovering supposed overpayments to medical providers on claims of plan participants in one healthcare plan by offsetting these “overpayments” against (and therefore often totally disallowing) payments on the claims of participants in an unrelated plan. Keep in mind that the participants in the plans normally are still on the hook for any medical bills that the United refuses to pay. I like to refer to this practice of cross-plan offsetting as robbing Peter to pay Paul’s plan. Or perhaps given the petition for certiorari filed last week by United in a case brought as a class action by Dr. Louis Peterson seeking to end this practice, I should say robbing Peterson (and his patients) to pay Paul.

In the Peterson case, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision earlier this year agreeing with a trial court that this practice was not allowed under the terms of the governing plans, which expressly allowed such offsetting for provider claims based on patients within the same plan, but said nothing about cross-plan offsets. Without deciding whether the practice necessarily violates ERISA, as the Department of Labor argued it does in a brief it filed as amicus curiae in the case, the Eighth Circuit noted that, at a minimum, the practice was “in some tension with the requirements of ERISA,” and “pushed the boundaries of what ERISA permits.” Accordingly, the court concluded that, despite the broad grant of interpretive authority granted to United in the plans, its interpretation of the plan as allowing cross-plan offsets was unreasonable.

United has asked the Supreme Court to review (and reverse) the decision. In its cert. petition, United asks the Court to resolve two issues (1) whether the Eighth Circuit incorrectly held that its interpretation was “necessarily unreasonable merely because the plan is silent on the matter”; and (2) whether a court is required by established ERISA case law to defer to “an otherwise reasonable plan construction that is lawful under ERISA but, in the court’s view, pushes ERISA’s boundaries.”

June 5, 2019

Why It’s Important To Seek Assistance Early During Your Long Term Disability Claim Process with a Condition Like Rheumatoid Arthritis

by Beth A. Davis

We represent a number of clients who suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis. This often misunderstood and “invisible” disease causes extreme pain for its sufferers. On top of the pain, many also deal with the disbelief of friends, family and employers as to the disabling nature of their illness.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (“RA”) is a chronic disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks joint tissue and causes inflammation that can spread throughout the body. It can also cause excruciating pain. Because there are very few visible symptoms during most stages of this disease, its sufferers appear to be fine when in reality, they are in extreme pain.

Another difficult aspect of RA, from a disability standpoint, is that there is no single test for diagnosing the condition. Rather, it is diagnosed by clinical evaluation, lab tests and imaging. This makes meeting your long term disability plan’s definition of disabled more difficult as insurers are often looking for “objective evidence” of disability.

June 5, 2019

The Continued Litigation of ESOP Indemnification Agreements

by Susan L. Meter

In an intensely litigated ESOP case involving 14 counts of ERISA violations, on April 22, 2019, Judge Staton, District Judge, Central District of California, certified a class of ESOP participants. The certification came after the court denied Defendants’ motions to dismiss all 14 counts. The case, as a whole, has many interesting legal issues, however, most interesting is the continued litigation of whether indemnification agreements for breaches of fiduciary duty are void.

As background, ERISA § 410 categorically voids indemnification agreements and states, in part “any provision in an agreement…which purports to relieve a fiduciary from responsibility or liability for any responsibility, obligation, or duty…shall be void as against public policy.” However, Department of Labor regulations have interpreted this to permit employer indemnification but not plan indemnification. (29 CFR 2509.75-4). The regulations also permit indemnification agreements so long as it does not relieve a fiduciary of responsibility or liability.

In 2009, we heard the first case in the 9^th circuit that interpreted ERISA § 410 and its regulations, giving some clarity on the validity of indemnification agreements. In Johnson v. Couturier, 52 F.3d 1067 (9th Cir. July 27, 2009) the ESOP participants alleged defendants breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the company to pay excessive compensation to an officer who was a fiduciary to the plan. The company in Johnson was 100% ESOP owned and was in the process of liquidation. The indemnity agreement between officer-fiduciary and plan sponsor (company) provided indemnity unless due to gross negligence or deliberate wrongful acts. Despite the indemnity being paid from corporate assets, which would typically be permitted under DOL regulations, here, because the company was liquidating, the Court held that payment of indemnification by the company would reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the liquidating distribution from the plan – essentially paid by ESOP.

May 17, 2019

Dramatic Progress Made in Testing for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

Researchers at Stanford University recently made exciting and significant progress toward developing a possible diagnostic test for chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS. In a pilot study of 40 people, half healthy and half with ME/CFS, all of the patients with ME/CFS showed a potential biomarker, where the healthy individuals did not. More details can be seen HERE

As sufferers of ME/CFS know, the struggle to obtain not only treatment, but mere confirmation of the existence of a real disease, can be overwhelming. While the new test itself is still viewed with significant skepticism due to the study’s small sample size, it could be the first step in finding a reliable, objective test to confirm the presence of this debilitating disease.

Disability insurance companies deny claims based on ME/CFS at an extraordinary rate; not because these claims are not righteous. Rather, without a medically accepted diagnostic test, insurers can dismiss your devastating limitations as mere “subjective reports.” Fortunately for consumers, insurers’ attempts to dismiss such claims can be fought, and won, with the right expertise.

May 15, 2019

If You Suffer from Chronic Pain, We Hope You Are Aware of this Organization

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

Many of our clients suffer from chronic pain. For some chronic pain is a symptom of an underlying condition and for others it is the main condition; in either case, chronic pain can be and often is disabling. Because so many of our clients are affected by chronic pain, we thought a discussion of the organization that provides information, support and education for those who suffer from chronic pain conditions might be helpful.

The American Chronic Pain Association’s mission:

to facilitate peer support and education for individuals with chronic pain and their families so that these individuals may live more fully in spite of their pain; and

May 15, 2019

Is Cigna Living Up To Its Commitments?

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

Long term disability policies frequently have two different definitions for disability. The first provides benefits if one is unable to perform their “own occupation.” To determine benefits under these criteria, the carrier often looks at the “material and substantial duties” of the insured’s occupation and whether the insured can perform those duties with his or her restrictions and limitations.

After 24 months, the criteria often change to whether the insured can perform “any occupation” for which he or she is suited by education, training and experience. Most, but not all policies, also expressly include “station in life” criteria. This means the carrier must also consider the insured’s prior earnings and any alternate occupation identified by the carrier must pay earnings commensurate to the insured’s prior occupation.

We frequently see carriers terminate benefits at the “any occupation” phase of the Plan based on mythical occupations. For example, Hartford has terminated benefits for our clients, stating that the insured can be a “Lens Inserter” or a “Jacket Preparer.” The carriers take the position that it does not matter if the job actually exists in the national economy. Since the occupations are identified by the outdated Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the carriers believe that they are suitable alternative occupations.

May 15, 2019

What is Breast Implant Illness or BII?

by Cari M. Schwartz

Getting breast implants can change a person’s life for the better. But in recent years, women have suspected that their breast implants have made them very ill with diseases such as:

May 14, 2019

The Lupus Foundation Can Be a Priceless Resource

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

It seems we are handling an increasing number of Lupus cases, so we thought we would write about the illness and the organization that provides information, support and education for those who suffer from Lupus.

The Lupus Foundation works to find a cure, to advance research, to increase knowledge, to empower the community and to ensure that those living with the disease enjoy the best quality of life possible. http://www.lupus.org/about

This organization can provide valuable information for our clients with Lupus and their families on topics that include: understanding the illness, coping with a recent diagnosis, managing Lupus and support for care partners and family. These are just a few examples of the many resources available on the Lupus Foundations’ website.

May 7, 2019

Using ERISA to Hold Your Fiduciary Accountable

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

What happens if the people in control of an employee benefit plan’s assets make decisions that benefit themselves at the expense of the plan participants? What if they are lazy and don’t make decisions based on a reasoned, researched, thoughtful process? How are they held accountable?

Under ERISA, an employee benefit plan’s assets are meant to be held in trust for the use of the plan participants and their beneficiaries. The people who manage those assets, have the authority to determine who is eligible for benefits under the plan, and make determinations on claims submitted to the plan are plan fiduciaries and they owe fiduciary duties to the plan’s participants and beneficiaries.

An ERISA plan fiduciary must “discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan, with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent man acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use…” 29 U.S.C. §1104.

May 3, 2019

Is Your Pension Benefit Check Correct?

by Kantor & Kantor LLP

Your claim for pension benefits has been approved! A check came in the mail from your pension plan. You open it, look at the amount of your monthly benefit, and wonder how the dollar amount was calculated. You shrug and deposit the check, assuming the pension plan has correctly calculated what you are entitled to receive. But is it correct?

Although you may think calculating the amount of your monthly pension benefit is a simple matter of plugging some numbers into an equation based on the language in the pension plan, there are multiple ways a plan administrator can make an error when calculating the amount. According to the Department of Labor, the top ten most common errors made when calculating pension benefits are:

The plan did not include all your relevant income when calculating the benefit amount. One of the variables used to calculate pension benefits is pre-retirement earnings. The higher your earnings were when you were working, the higher the amount of your pension benefit. However, if the pension plan mistakenly excludes some of your compensation – such as bonuses, commissions, or overtime – your benefit may be smaller than it should be.