The Fifth Circuit concluded that a plan participant was not entitled to recover attorneys’ fees for obtaining a remand order requiring the district court to apply a de novo, rather than abuse of discretion, standard of review to the administrative determination of her benefit claim. In so ruling, the Court applied the principles enunciated
502(a)(1)(B)
“Plan Administrator” vs “Claims Administrator” – Who is the Proper Defendant in ERISA Claim for Benefits?
By Tulio Chirinos on
The issue of who may be a proper defendant in an ERISA claim for benefits has not received consistent treatment in the courts. On the one hand, a federal district court in Minnesota recently concluded that a third party administrator was a proper defendant in a lawsuit seeking benefits on the grounds that Section 502(a)(1)(B),…
Claims Administrator Not Liable Under ERISA For Alleged Failure to Follow ACA’s Enhanced Benefit Claim Procedures
By Brian Neulander & Robert Rachal on
A federal court in New York appears to have issued the first published decision addressing alleged violations of the enhanced benefit claim procedures arising out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new procedures contain various participant-friendly provisions, such as the right to external review, that alter ERISA’s existing benefit claim procedures for non-grandfathered welfare…