Northwestern Denied Quick Appeal in Health Plan Tier Challenge

Northwestern University can’t immediately appeal a court ruling forcing it to defend allegations that its health plan wrongly offers a high-cost benefit tier that provides no extra benefits.

The “novelty” of the allegations aren’t enough to justify an immediate appeal when Northwestern hasn’t identified a “contested and controlling issue of law whose resolution would expedite the litigation,” Judge Jeremy C. Daniel of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said Monday, denying the school’s request to send the dispute directly to the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

The proposed class action says Northwestern’s health ...