Insurer-Friendly Case Law Overruled by Fifth Circuit (1)

People seeking benefits from employer-sponsored plans in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi got good news March 1, when a federal appeals court overturned a 27-year-old case making it harder for them to challenge benefit denials in court.

The factual determinations made by benefit plan administrators in the course of deciding benefit claims aren’t entitled to special deference when they’re reviewed by courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled. The decision, which was signed by eight of the 14 judges who heard the case, overrules Pierre v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., an insurer-friendly 1991 decision holding ...