Disability plans (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Disability plans, gathered by BenefitsLink.comGuidance Overview Claims Manual Policies Rejected As Irrelevant In Disability Offset Case- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The interesting legal points of the case lie in the district court's assessment of probative value of UNUM's internal claims manual, its perspective in applying the standard of review and as an illustration of the felicitous effects of de novo review for a claimant's case." (Attorney Roy F Harmon III in the Health Plan Law blog)http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=624 Opinion A Reconsideration of Tax Expenditure Analysis (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 87 pages. Excerpt: "This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation . . . reconsiders the utility of the JCT Staff's current implementation of tax expenditure analysis. . . . Driven off track by seemingly endless debates about what should and should not be included in the 'normal' tax base, tax expenditure analysis today does not advance either of the two goals that inspired its original proponents: clarifying the aggregate size and application of government...http://www.americanbenefitscouncil.org/documents/x-37-08.pdf Guidance Overview IRS Releases Private Letter Ruling on Disability Benefits for Firefighters and Public Safety Officers (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) At page 2. Excerpt: "On February 29, 2008, the IRS released a private letter ruling (PLR 200809011) related to the treatment of disability benefits paid to firefighters and public safety officers. The request for the ruling came from a governmental plan after a state court held that a state statute . . . created a 'rebuttable presumption' that an employee's heart condition 'arises out of or in the course or his or her employment.'" (Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company)http://www.grsnet.com/news/pdf_newsscan/NS-2008-05.pdf Comments on Easterbrook, an oral argument analysis, and the pending decision in Glenn- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Hey, Did Easterbrook Read My Glenn ERISA Analysis Apparently not. Consider his lack of interest (pun intended) in the structural conflict of interest argument at stake in Metlife v. Glenn in this case, Williams v. The Interpublic Severance Pay Plan, 07-3146 (7th Cir. Apr. 29, 2008): Williams contends nonetheless that we should review the decision de novo because the Plan is unfunded . . . ." (Workplace Prof Blog)http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/04/hey-did-easterb.html Montana State Auditor Files Brief for Consumers in MetLife v. Wanda Glen- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case -- Met Life v. Wanda Glen -- to address a question that has divided the U.S. courts of appeal: whether insurance companies that deny group health or disability insurance claims should be given deference by courts reviewing the claim denial, or whether such insurers are operating under a 'conflict of interest' that precludes deference. The issue involves interpretation of the expansive and complicated federal law known as ERISA."...http://dailyinsurer.blogspot.com/2008/04/montana-auditor-files-brief-for.html Guidance Overview No Statutory Penalty for Failure to Supply Requested Benefit Claims Forms- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "It is important to get the meaning of this particular statute right - at $110 per day, the Latin lesson could get expensive. That's the potential penalty, of course, for failure to provided requested information under 29 U.S.C. 1024(b)(4). . . . A recent district court decision holds that claims forms do not rank inclusion in the plan information subject to the statute." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)http://healthplanlaw.com/?p=602 Guidance Overview ERISA and Arbitration Under a Collective Bargaining Agreement- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Third Circuit recently considered an interesting case at the intersection of employee benefits law and labor law, involving a multiemployer benefit plan and the necessity of employees to grieve under the CBA a disability benefit claims, rather than going directly to federal court." (Workplace Prof Blog)http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2008/04/erisa-and-arbit.html Guidance Overview New Jersey to Provide Payments to Workers Taking Leave to Care for Dependent Family Members (PDF)- (Found June 24, 2008 ) 4 pages. Excerpt: "On April 7, after several years of intensive lobbying and legislative negotiations, the New Jersey Senate passed an Assembly bill that, once signed by the governor, will make New Jersey the third state to provide state payments for workers on leave to care for dependent family members. Governor Corzine has announced that he intends to sign the bill. The bill amends New Jersey's Temporary Disability Benefits Law (TDBL) such that, commencing July 1, 2009, employees taking..http://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/LEPG_NJProvidePaymentsForLeave_LF_17apr08.pdf Guidance Overview Court Denies Participant's Request for Claims Guidelines That Were Not Relied Upon in Determining Her Claim- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "EBIA Comment: This claims administrator was not required to provide its guidelines because it was able to show that they were not used in determining the participant's claim. As noted in the decision, however, other courts have read the claims procedure regulations differently and might require guidelines of this type to be made available, even if they were not used or relied upon in the particular claim. Thus, employers, insurers, and third-party claims administrators should be..http://www.ebia.com/weeklyguest/19361/20080509c848bc6ffeef3495ab044b61dc1325bf/BNL080417 U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Key Disability Plan Case- (Found June 24, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday morning is scheduled to hear argument in a case involving conflicts of interest for ERISA plan administrators. The case, MetLife v. Glenn, centers on whether there is an inherent conflict of interest for insurance companies that both administer employee disability plans and pay benefits under the same plans. The arrangement is allowed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act." (LegalNewsLine.com)http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/211252-u.s.-supreme-court-to-hear-key-disability-case |