(December 5, 2017, 1:07 PM EST) -- SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 27 affirmed that a health plan participant who filed suit against the plan is not entitled to attorney fees because the parties submitted their dispute to arbitration, which is not considered an action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s fee-shifting rule (Francisco Ponce De Leon v. International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union-Pacific Maritime Association Welfare Plan, No. 16-55364, 9th Cir., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 23918)....