An industry group known as the Insurance Information Institute is analyzing the role racial bias plays in calculating insurance premiums. Explicit racial bias, i.e.., setting premiums directly based on race (known as "redlining") has been illegal since the mid 20th century. But rates continue to bet set based on criteria that indirectly reflect racial bias. …
Continue reading Industry Group Reviewing Insurance Rate Practices for Racial Bias
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Washington and other west coast states) is having a busy summer for insurance cases. On the heels of recent decisions regarding attorneys' fees in ERISA-governed insurance disputes and insurers' duty to reasonably investigate insurance claims comes the July 14, 2020 ruling in Schmitt …
Continue reading Court Confirms Health Insurers Can’t Sell Discriminatory Insurance Policies
ERISA is a remedial law designed to make sure that employees receive the full benefits they earn under their employer's benefit plans. Part of ERISA requires employee benefit plans that wrongfully withhold benefits and force employees to sue to recover those benefits to pay the employee's attorney's fees. Otherwise, the employee will not have received the full …
A recent ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is a good reminder that, as we've observed before, the "moral high ground" is crucial in insurance bad faith disputes. The Ninth Circuit (the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Washington and other west coast states) recently upheld the dismissal of insurance bad faith claims …
ERISA-governed insurance claims are subject to specific deadlines that claimants have to meet in order to protect their rights. Normally, the consequences of missing a deadline are draconian. For instance, appealing an ERISA claim denial even one day late can irrevocably waive the right to dispute the denial, no matter the reason for the delay. …
Continue reading ERISA Claim Deadlines Extended Due to COVID-19
