Federal Judge: Tribe’s ERISA Claim Over ‘Hidden’ Plan Fees Can Proceed

Mealey's (October 28, 2016, 10:05 AM EDT) -- BAY CITY, Mich. — A Michigan federal judge on Oct. 27 stood by his dismissal of an Indian tribe’s claim that its health care plan administrator breached its fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to pay Medicare-like rates (MLRs) for certain health services but agreed with the parties that the tribe can still proceed with an ERISA claim based on the allegation that the administrator had a practice of hiding certain access fees (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, No. 16-cv-10317, E.D. Mich.; 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 148615)....