Symetra Policy Covering Insurance Agency Owner Isn’t ERISA Plan

A Symetra Life Insurance Co. long-term disability policy covering the owner of an insurance agency isn’t a benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, according to an Arizona federal court ruling interpreting a recent Ninth Circuit opinion.

The disability coverage plaintiff Luke Adams arranged for his insurance agency doesn’t qualify as an ERISA-governed benefit plan, because Adams’s involvement in the plan was “limited to him paying for his employees’ insurance premiums,” Judge Jennifer G. Zipps of the US District Court for the District of Arizona held Monday.

Adams didn’t set the plan’s terms for eligibility or enrollment, ...