I’ve talked about this problem before here, but today I wanted to lay out exactly what you’re losing when you have a plan covered by ERISA laws.
ERISA Offers No State Protections
You might have heard this before, but do you really know what it means? Depending on the state you live in, there are a wide variety of things that you can do to keep your insurer honest and fight back against illegal practices designed to keep you from getting the benefits you deserve. These may include suing for:
- Emotional distress
- Consequential (or special) damages
- Prejudgment interest for breach of contract
- Tortious interference with contract
- Deceptive trade acts or unfair practices
- Bad faith
- Punitive damages
For a free legal consultation, call 800-562-9830
But those under ERISA plans aren’t eligible for any of this – you won’t even be able to go to a state court. Instead, you will be sent to a federal courtroom and the best outcome you can hope to receive is that the judge will make your insurer honor the policy by providing you with benefits you should have gotten in the first place–and hopefully pay your attorney fees.
Doesn’t sound fair, does it? Unfortunately, it’s the law that we have to live under until enough people push for change in long term disability and insurance in general. The Affordable Care Act doesn’t do enough – if you want to make ERISA work for you, contact your congressional representative and fight to make things better.
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