January 23, 2024
A Washington federal court entered judgment in favor of a certified class of transgender health plan participants who alleged that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois discriminated against them by denying gender-affirming care. However, the judge agreed to stay the ruling pending the outcome of an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
January 01, 2024
Employees will seek to revive their suit claiming Yale University mismanaged its $5.5 billion retirement plan, Republican attorneys general will try to sink Labor Department regulations on socially conscious investing, and a food services company will look to force a suit over a healthcare surcharge for nicotine users into arbitration. Here are five cases benefits attorneys should watch in 2024.
December 20, 2023
A Washington federal judge handed a win to a certified class of transgender patients whose employer health plans were administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and contained exclusions for gender-affirming care treatments, ordering the insurer to reprocess claims to remedy violations of the Affordable Care Act.
December 12, 2023
A Washington federal judge denied Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' bid to decertify a class of transgender patients who previously convinced the court that their claims for gender-dysphoria-related treatments were denied out of bias, ruling the patients have enough in common to proceed as a group.
December 06, 2023
The class of transgender individuals suing Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois over coverage denials for gender dysphoria-related treatments should be amended to further spell out how prospective members may qualify to be in the class, a Washington federal judge has said.
November 29, 2023
Class members denied coverage by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for gender dysphoria treatments told a Washington federal judge at a hearing Wednesday that they deserve to have their claims reprocessed, with the judge who already ruled there was discrimination asking Blue Cross why it would be inappropriate for him to find they are entitled to benefits.
April 17, 2023
A Washington federal judge stayed a class action Monday against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois led by a transgender teen who sued the insurer for denying coverage of gender dysphoria-related treatments, pending the outcome of a pivotal appeal in the Ninth Circuit involving benefit claims administration.
March 17, 2023
When the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that United Behavioral Health did not have to reprocess 67,000 patient claims, it gummed up proceedings in federal benefits lawsuits around the country, demonstrating the wide reach of both the appeals court's decision and the patients' pending push for rehearing.
March 15, 2023
Blue Cross Blue Shield and a transgender teen who sued the insurer for denying coverage of dysphoria-related treatments must tell a Washington federal court why it shouldn't hold off on further decisions in the case pending the Ninth Circuit's consideration of a pivotal appeal involving benefit claims administration.
February 09, 2023
A certified class of transgender individuals and their parents are seeking a court injunction to block Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois from denying coverage for gender dysphoria-related treatments, now that a Washington federal judge has ruled in favor of the class in their discrimination lawsuit against the insurer.