Comments on: Colorado Legislature bones ERISA insurers http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/colorado-legislature-bones-erisa-insurers/ Law, Politics, News and Media in Colorado and Beyond Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:01:03 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: LittlebyLittle http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/colorado-legislature-bones-erisa-insurers/#comment-1667 LittlebyLittle Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:22:49 +0000 http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/?p=289#comment-1667 HELP!!! I'm a victim of what you're talking about but I live in Canada. What I don't understand is how the your ERISA is going to saving the American employees who are receiving long-term disability benefits under the piece of crap called ASO and its evil cohort of a misnomer called self-insurance, while the 409 Canadian employees on LTD are being left to fend for themselves in a bankruptcy proceeding... Can you provide me with any of the relevant info regarding Nortel's American employees on LTD that are going to be bailed-out by Erisa? It's my understanding the the US plan was self-funded, and I also understood that your ERISA provides the exemption in the same way that our crappy provincial legislation exempts benefits not covered by insurance contracts. I need to understand how ERISA is being used to save the NORTEL LTD people in the U.S. so I can shove it into the faces of our apathetic politicians! Could you help please? Thanks so much. HELP!!! I’m a victim of what you’re talking about but I live in Canada. What I don’t understand is how the your ERISA is going to saving the American employees who are receiving long-term disability benefits under the piece of crap called ASO and its evil cohort of a misnomer called self-insurance, while the 409 Canadian employees on LTD are being left to fend for themselves in a bankruptcy proceeding…

Can you provide me with any of the relevant info regarding Nortel’s American employees on LTD that are going to be bailed-out by Erisa? It’s my understanding the the US plan was self-funded, and I also understood that your ERISA provides the exemption in the same way that our crappy provincial legislation exempts benefits not covered by insurance contracts. I need to understand how ERISA is being used to save the NORTEL LTD people in the U.S. so I can shove it into the faces of our apathetic politicians!

Could you help please? Thanks so much.

]]> By: genghishitler http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/colorado-legislature-bones-erisa-insurers/#comment-1337 genghishitler Mon, 19 May 2008 20:15:23 +0000 http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/?p=289#comment-1337 Yep. Self-fund plans have been driving the Bad Law Bus through the federal courts for a long time. Wal*Mart's plan has had some especially disturbing successes in recent years. There's little a state legislature can do about that. Yep. Self-fund plans have been driving the Bad Law Bus through the federal courts for a long time. Wal*Mart’s plan has had some especially disturbing successes in recent years. There’s little a state legislature can do about that.

]]> By: ohwilleke http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/colorado-legislature-bones-erisa-insurers/#comment-1334 ohwilleke Mon, 19 May 2008 19:54:48 +0000 http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/?p=289#comment-1334 Oops. See that you made this clear in your last paragraph. Oops. See that you made this clear in your last paragraph.

]]> By: ohwilleke http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/colorado-legislature-bones-erisa-insurers/#comment-1333 ohwilleke Mon, 19 May 2008 19:53:07 +0000 http://completedefeasance.wordpress.com/?p=289#comment-1333 Not quite right. The notion that states can punish and regulate bad faith in the administration of insurance policies purchaed by an employer is uncontroversial. The tricky distinction in not between first party claims and third party claims, but between companies that purchase insurance (in which bad faith claims are not significantly impacted by ERISA) and self-insured companies (generally Fortune 500 class) whose claims are merely administered by insurance companies. Claims against self-insured companies administered by insurance companies are not insurance in the traditional definition and hence receive ERISA pre-emption of state law bad faith lawsuits. H.B. 1407 does not, so far as I can tell, extend to self-insurance companies such as Wal-Mart. Not quite right. The notion that states can punish and regulate bad faith in the administration of insurance policies purchaed by an employer is uncontroversial.

The tricky distinction in not between first party claims and third party claims, but between companies that purchase insurance (in which bad faith claims are not significantly impacted by ERISA) and self-insured companies (generally Fortune 500 class) whose claims are merely administered by insurance companies. Claims against self-insured companies administered by insurance companies are not insurance in the traditional definition and hence receive ERISA pre-emption of state law bad faith lawsuits.

H.B. 1407 does not, so far as I can tell, extend to self-insurance companies such as Wal-Mart.

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