Some of the ramifications of continuing the Health Insurance model of Employer-Offered Group Health Insurance Plans, are explored by David Lazarus, "Business Leaders' Opposition to Public Health Insurance Option Takes Chutzpah/Where do They Expect the Thousands of Workers They've Laid Off and Their Families to Get Coverage?" (Los Angeles Times Online, Sunday, November 1, 2009).
ERISA would seem to apply once Group Health Insurance Plans are in place and ready to be administered. ERISA offers a certain immunity from suit for conduct that in many jurisdictions would clearly be actionable as Bad Faith and Unfair Dealing. But what about before these Group Health Insurance Plans are even offered, chosen, and ready to be administered?
If Employers lay off workers in order to get out from under Health Insurance Premiums, or if that is even a factor in their budgeting process, what role if any is there for Duties of Good Faith and Fair Dealing? What legal basis, if any? Worth another look, by laid-off employees and their employers alike, perhaps.
Please Read The Disclaimer.
Comments