Medical Mutual, Reserve National Cancer Coverage Suit Advances

Cancer patients who say their health insurance coverage was wrongly terminated while they were in the midst of chemotherapy treatments advanced claims against Medical Mutual of Ohio and Reserve National Insurance Co.

Judge William L. Campbell Jr. of the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee declined to dismiss the patients’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims stemming from the cancellation of their policies while undergoing approved treatments. The insurers argued they couldn’t be held liable as ERISA fiduciaries, but Campbell wasn’t persuaded, saying Thursday that that the patients plausibly alleged the cancellation was an “exercise in control ...