Disability plans (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Disability plans, gathered by BenefitsLink.comHigh Court Prepares To Hear ERISA Discretion Arguments- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The U.S. Supreme Court could hear oral arguments concerning a group benefits administration case April 23. The court has scheduled arguments on the case, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company et al. petitioners vs. Wanda Glenn, for that date." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)http://www.lifeandhealthinsurancenews.com/cms/nulh/Breaking%20News/2008/04/11-erisa-ab Guidance Overview Failure to Furnish SPD Can Lead to Loss of Deferential Standard of Review- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Getting to an abuse of discretion standard of review is actually a two-step task. First, the plan or SPD must actually have an appropriately drafted clause. Second, the document must actually get to the plan participant. While the outcome in this case was not affected by the standard of review, the case is nonetheless interesting for its focus on what often seems overlooked in benefit claims cases, i.e., were the plan documents actually distributed to the plan participants in the.http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=612 Guidance Overview Reversal of Benefits Decision on Remand to Plan Administrator Warrants Attorneys' Fees Award- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In this case, the district court denied the plaintiff's motion, but the Ninth Circuit reversed based upon the fact that the district court had remanded the case to the plan administrator and the remand did effect a change in his legal relationship with the plan." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=616 Opinion Feuer on Glenn ERISA Case- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Prominent ERISA attorney, Albert Feuer, writes . . . about the Court's recent oral argument in the structural conflict of interest ERISA case of MetLife v. Glenn: What is the basic review standard if there is no conflict Arbitrary and capricious, abuse of discretion, or reasonableness. Counsel for Glenn kept referring to reasonableness as illustrated in the blog. Counsel for Metropolitan Life kept referring to arbitrary and capricious, which he asserted was the same as abuse of...http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/05/feuer-on-glenn.html Survey Finds Many Women Underinsured for Income Protection- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A survey sponsored by The Hartford Group, an insurance provider, found that two-thirds of moms say it is 'extremely' or 'very important' for their spouse or partner to have disability insurance, compared with only half who say it is 'extremely' or 'very important' to have coverage themselves. A news release said the poll found less than half of mothers (47%) who work outside the home have short-term disability insurance and even fewer (37%) have long-term disability...http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=41386 Supreme Court Considers Conflict for Plan Administrators That are Also Payers- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a case to determine how much the conflict of a dual role of a plan administrator that is also a payer of benefits should be considered when reviewing the administrator's denial of benefits." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type11/?RECORD_ID=41384 Guidance Overview The Effect of Conflicts of Interest on the Scope of Discovery- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The scope of judicial review in ERISA claim for benefit cases has presented one of the classic debates that belie the tired old bromide to the effect that ERISA is a 'comprehensive and reticulated' statute needing no supplementation." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=617 Cancer Remains Top Cause for Long-Term Disability Claims- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Unum, a provider of group disability insurance reports that 12.2% of its long-term disability claims resulted from cancer cases." (Employee Benefit News; free registration required)http://ebn.benefitnews.com/asset/article/581431/staying-current/cancer-remains-top-cause-l... Paid Maternity Leave Still on the Wishlist for Many U.S. Mothers- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In a selection of 19 countries with comparable per capita income, the United States provides the fewest maternity leave benefits in both length of leave and paid time off . . . . " (Economic Policy Institute)http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_20080507 Opinion Forced Reversal of 45% of LTD Denials Means Something is Wrong- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "In an announcement May 5, 2008 The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance released a report documenting the results of a multi-state settlement concerning disability claim practices by Unum and its subsidiaries since 2004 and the results are fascinating; 45.1% of group LTD claim decisions were reversed resulting in an additional $558.6M of additional benefits either paid or reserved for future benefit payment. . . . Keep in mind the majority of these contracts were likely.http://thegroupguy.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-does-that-work-i-dont-understand.html |