Health Affairs Web Exclusive Examines Supreme Court Decision About ERISA Conflict Of Interest

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;  Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 04 Sep 2008 - 11:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

"'MetLife V. Glenn': The Court Addresses a Conflict Over Conflicts in ERISA Benefit Administration," Health Affairs: In the Web exclusive, Tim Jost of the Washington and Lee University School of Law discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized the conflict of interest that often faces Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan administrators, who often both evaluate claims made by employees and pay the claims they approve. According to Jost, the Supreme Court decision made it easier for the conflict of interest to be invoked in court by employees who file lawsuits against plan administrators to reverse denied claims. Jost writes that the decision likely will lead to more approvals of employees' health insurance claims and more litigation over denied claims (Jost, Health Affairs, 9/3).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.