The Third Circuit recently held that anti-assignment clauses in ERISA-governed healthcare plans are enforceable as long as they are unambiguous. The Court concluded that the anti-assignment clause clearly stated that participants could not assign their rights under the plan; and the plan’s statement that payments made directly to a provider did not transfer to that
Assignments
Valid Assignment Confers Beneficiary Status on Chiropractor
By Todd Mobley on
A federal district court in Illinois recently issued a pair of rulings in cases where insurers sought to recoup payments from practitioners. Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159331 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 7, 2013); 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159491 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 7, 2013). Plaintiffs, three individual…
Court Says ERISA Plan Custodian Had to Comply with State Order Attaching Plan Assets
By Todd Castleton on
A recent decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serves as a reminder to plan custodians that they cannot assume that federal law will always trump state law when it comes to assignment of plan assets. In Johnson vs. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 719 F.3d 601 (7th Cir. 2013),…
Chiropractors Lack Standing Under ERISA to Assert Claims For Benefits
By Aaron Feuer on
A federal district court in New Jersey recently dismissed claims asserted by a putative class of chiropractors seeking to enjoin the procedure used by UnitedHealth to determine the necessity of certain treatments administered by in-network physicians, finding that they lacked standing to assert their claims. Premier Health Ctr., P.C. v. UnitedHealth Grp., No. 2:11-cv-00425-ES-CLW…