Subrogation of Occupational Disease Claims Eliminated “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” – Al Pacino, Godfather III. In 2005, Missouri amended its statutes and divorced the compensability of occupational disease claims from its statutory workers’ compensation definitions of “accident” and “injury.” A few years later, in the case of…
The Common Fund Doctrine is an exception to the “American Rule,” which obligates each party in a lawsuit to pay its own attorneys’ fees. This Doctrine is applicable in situations where one party’s success in litigation creates a “common fund” which benefits a third party. The third party is obligated to pay a pro rata…
A 2012 Texas Federal Court decision has brought into focus the ability of an ERISA Plan to file a state subrogation tort action. While dealing specifically with a Contribution of Benefits issue, the Federal Court decision in Central States v. Health Special Risk, Inc., 2013 WL 2656159 (N.D. Tex. 2013) has given ammunition to anti-subrogation…
We have long known that Democrats, financially-fueled by the trial lawyers’ lobby, are no fans of subrogation. Surprisingly, even Republicans continue to battle the subrogation bogeyman, an indication that subrogation education and lobbying of our legislators should be a priority in our industry. The most recent example is in Texas, where Republican legislators sponsored, and…
Court Recognizes Importance of Subrogation In Reducing Premiums: Calingo v. Meridian Resource Co., LLC, 2013 WL 1250448 (S.D.N.Y. 2013). The U.S. government sponsors more than 350 different health Plans covering more than nine million federal employees, retirees, and beneficiaries through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Act of 1959 (FEHBA). 5 U.S.C. §§ 8901-8914. These health Plans…
U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Holds Equity Does Not Trump Plan Language On April 16, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated decision in U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen, 2013 WL 1567371 (2013), a case in which the future of ERISA health insurance subrogation hung in the balance. Subrogation won, trial lawyers lost. In a rare…