The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday decided 5-4 that a federal court can use equitable law principles when a group health plan contract governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is silent about a legal issue.
James McCutchen, the plan enrollee in the case, U.S. Airways Inc. vs. McCutchen (11-1285), was badly hurt in an automobile collision caused by another motorist while he working for US Airways Inc. The US Airways plan paid $66,866 in medical expenses. His lawyer helped him file a suit and recover $110,000 from the defendant.
The lawyer deducted a 40-percent contingency fee and then gave McCutchen $66,000 in cash.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
