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Seeking A Second Opinion: A Call For Congressional Evaluation Of Anti-Assignment Provisions In Employee Health Plans, Jordan Davis

Fordham Law Review

In the health insurance context, anti-assignment provisions are contractual clauses that restrict an insured individual’s ability to assign rights due under a health plan to another party, such as a medical provider. As these provisions have become increasingly prevalent in employersponsored health plan agreements, they have effectively stripped medical providers of enforcement and litigation rights previously utilized under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)—the relevant federal regulation governing employee benefit plans, including health insurance plans. This Note examines these effects in light of ERISA’s intended protections of employees participating in employer-sponsored benefit plans and considers whether congressional …