Judge: Health Insurer’s Role In Proton-Beam Claim Denial A Basis For ERISA Claim

(March 16, 2018, 1:37 PM EDT) -- TAMPA, Fla. — A health insurer responsible for denying a man’s proton-beam therapy claim and resulting appeal exercised sufficient decision-making power to be the subject of an ERISA suit, a federal judge in Florida held March 13. In a separate ruling issued the same day, the judge declined to stay discovery, saying two insurers’ role in the health plan makes discovery likely regardless of the status of the case against them (Brett NyQuist v. The Group Health Benefit Plan for Associates of Publix Supermarkets Inc., et al., No. 17-344, M.D. Fla., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40521)....