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The section of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that preempts state regulation of employee benefit plans can shield a plan from a suit over libel, slander or defamation.
A three-judge panel at the 3rd U.S. Court of Appeals talks about the ability of ERISA to block defamation suits in an opinion on a case involving a physician who sued a subsidiary of Cigna over allegations that the subsidiary had defamed him in explanation-of-benefit notices sent to patients.
The subsidiary, Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, was administering health plans for employers.
Dr. Jeffrey Ahn, a board-certified ear, nose and throat doctor in New Jersey, sued after the Cigna subsidiary sent out dozens of EOB notices with codes indicating that it had denied payment of claims because Cigna and self-insured employer plans did not pay for services provided by unlicensed health care providers.
A U.S. District Court judge in Newark, New Jersey, granted the Cigna subsidiary summary judgment in June 2025. The district court judge concluded that defamation is a state-law claim, ERISA preempts state-law claims that relate to matters that are central to ERISA plan administration, and that communicating to providers and patients about claims is central to ERISA plan administration.
The 3rd Circuit panel supported the district court's summary judgment ruling.
"ERISA broadly preempts state-law claims," Judge Thomas Hardiman wrote in an opinion for the panel. "The explanation of benefits forms at issue in this appeal fall well within the scope ERISA preemption.
The 3rd Circuit panel agreed with the Cigna subsidiary that letting state defamation laws shape EOB content would undermine uniformity in plan administration.
Representatives for Ahn and Cigna could not immediately be reached for comment.
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