PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Best Practices for Reducing ERISA Litigation Risk
ERISA Claims: How Can Benefits Be An Employer’s Burden?
On May 21, 2025, the Sixth Circuit revived a company’s lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) for breaching its fiduciary duties under ERISA as a third-party administrator (TPA). The plaintiff company,...more
Employers navigating the complexities of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ("MHPAEA") may find themselves questioning the true impact of the federal government's recently issued nonenforcement policy. This...more
This month’s Friday Five discusses cases addressing the effect of continuing to receive benefits during the period of alleged disability, reliance on an employer’s records in making a disability determination, the...more
Recent lawsuits filed against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the...more
This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions with issues spanning physician power of attorney to preexisting exclusions and the fiduciary duty of an insurance company....more
For the past few years, we have encouraged plan sponsors to focus on matters of fiduciary governance for their health and welfare benefit plans (see our 2021 blog post). Yet many plan sponsors overlook the fact that the...more
There has been a shift taking place in ERISA litigation and compliance that could significantly impact group health plan fiduciary requirements. We anticipate group health plan fiduciary standards will evolve along the same...more
Under Section 404 of ERISA, plan fiduciaries must act for the exclusive benefit of plan participants and beneficiaries and use plan assets only to provide benefits and defray reasonable expenses of administering the plan. In...more
As we recently suggested, ERISA disputes over the fees and expenses charged to employer or union sponsored group health plans may well become the next wave in ERISA litigation. At minimum, the Consolidated Appropriations Act...more
The Ninth Circuit just reversed decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Wit v. United Behavioral Health, which had ordered United Behavioral Health (“UBH”) to reprocess thousands of...more
In Byerly v. Std. Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 2937 (5th Cir. Feb. 2, 2021), the Fifth Circuit determined that a claimant, whose leg was amputated after he stubbed his toe, did not suffer a qualifying loss under his group...more
As we enter the final months of 2020, this is a time to reflect on a year of unprecedented challenges. Although Covid-19 changed our lives in many ways, it did not halt new legal developments in the life, health and...more
In Raymond M. v. Beacon Health Options, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94615 (D. Utah, May 29, 2020), a Utah district court held that an ERISA plan improperly applied acute-level criteria when denying benefits for a...more