To many policyholders, ERISA is a government program that simply backfired (sort of like Prohibition). That’s because ERISA considers an insurance company to be a “fiduciary.” Back in 1974, when ERISA was passed by Congress, the lawmakers figured that since the insurance company is a “fiduciary,” it must have the best interests of the injured
ERISA
ERISA’s “arbitrary and capricious” standard
By Gene Killian on
There’s a disturbing article over at Bloomberg about the (pretty horrendous) games insurance companies play with respect to policies governed by ERISA. The ironic thing is that the ERISA statute was designed to protect workers. But the so-called “arbitrary and capricious” standard of review sets such a low bar that claims often get denied for reasons invented…