Cigna Joins UnitedHealthcare in Nixing Liposuction Coverage Suit

Cigna Corp. defeated a proposed class action in California federal court claiming it wrongly fails to cover specialized liposuction procedures.

Banafsheh Akhlaghi’s lawsuit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act failed because she didn’t identify the ERISA plan or plan terms that entitled her to benefits, Judge Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Oct. 23. Akhlaghi also failed to identify the fiduciary duty that Cigna supposedly breached in administering her benefits, Tigar said.

Tigar gave Akhlaghi 30 days to file a new complaint correcting these failures.

Akhlaghi accused Cigna of incorrectly ...