Retirement Security Law Commons^™

The Collective Fiduciary, Lauren R. Roth

Scholarly Works

Can fiduciaries be made to serve public goals? The movement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) towards universal access to health insurance requires us to focus on the fiduciary relationships between large organizations providing access to healthcare and the populations they serve. These relationships have become a collective undertaking instead of a direct, personal relationship.

In this Article, I introduce the concept of the collective fiduciary in response to the shift towards uniform, national goals in the realm of health insurance and healthcare. Only through a collective approach can we hold fiduciaries accountable for the welfare of …

After Tackett: Incomplete Contracts For Post-Employment Healthcare, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the recent U.S. Supreme Court retiree health care decision in Tackett v. M & G Polymers and focuses, in particular, on the ostensibly odd silence with respect to a critical contract term — whether the parties in fact agreed that these benefits were vested. Although the union in Tackett insisted these welfare benefits were clearly intended to vest and the employer now asserts they can be modified at any time, the collective bargaining agreement and supporting documents are ambiguous on this question. This paper examines how and why this “silence” persisted for so many decades and concludes …

Health Care Spending And Financial Security After The Affordable Care Act, Allison K. Hoffman

All Faculty Scholarship

Health insurance has fallen notoriously short of protecting Americans from financial insecurity caused by health care spending. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) attempted to ameliorate this shortcoming by regulating health insurance. The ACA offers a new policy vision of how health insurance will (and perhaps should) serve to promote financial security in the face of health care spending. Yet, the ACA’s policy vision applies differently among insured, based on the type of insurance they have, resulting in inconsistent types and levels of financial protection among Americans.

To examine this picture of inconsistent financial protection, this Article offers …

Ensuring Health And Income Security For An Aging Workforce, Peter Budetti, Richard V. Burkhauser, Janice M. Gregory, H. Allan Hunt

H. Allan Hunt

The chapters explore implications of an aging workforce for a number of social programs in the coming decades, and point to the critical policy issues we must face when growing numbers of older workers begin to strain the capacity of those programs.

The Changing World Of Employee Benefits, Maria O'Brien Hylton

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The employee benefits picture, at least for many plan participants and some plan sponsors, is a scary and bleak one. The number of workers with pension coverage is declining, health insurance rates are rising much faster than the rate of inflation, and the number of uninsured continues to rise as well. The decline in union density, the recent boost given by the U.S. Supreme Court to Any Willing Provider ("AWP") laws, and the deluge of recent benefits-related scandals are also all part of this landscape. This Article examines each of these issues, with a focus on reforms that would increase …

Commentary: Is It Time To Take The Broom And Really Clean House? A New Paradigm For Employee Benefits, Mary Ellen Signorille

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Developing Field Of Elder Law Redux: Ten Years After, Lawrence A. Frolik

Articles

In 1993, Professor Frolik helped initiate The Elder Law Journal's first issue with his essay, The Developing Field of Elder Law: A Historical Perspective. Today, with the publication of the tenth volume of the Journal, Professor Frolik looks back over the past decade to reflect on the changes that have occurred within the field. In the past, he writes, Medicaid planning was thought by many to be the core of an elder law practice. This was not the case ten years ago, however, and it is certainly not true in the twenty-first century; elder law attorneys must practice in multifarious …

Reconciling The Erisa Fiduciary's Dual Responsibilities: The Third Circuit Adopts A Heightened Standard Of Review In Pinto V. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., Monica M. Lawrence

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ensuring Health And Income Security For An Aging Workforce, Peter Budetti Editor, Richard V. Burkhauser Editor, Janice M. Gregory Editor, H. Allan Hunt Editor

Upjohn Press

The chapters explore implications of an aging workforce for a number of social programs in the coming decades, and point to the critical policy issues we must face when growing numbers of older workers begin to strain the capacity of those programs.

Cobra Continuation Coverage And The Plain Reading Of The Statute: Geissal V. Moore Medical Corporation , Judith C. Brostron

Journal of Law and Health

This Paper will discuss the relevant statutes, case law and the Supreme Court's opinion in Geissal v. Moore Medical Corp. It concludes that the Supreme Court correctly reversed the Eighth Circuit's opinion in Geissal by applying the plain meaning of the statute and rejecting the "significant gap" theory. James Geissal was entitled to COBRA continuation coverage even though his wife had preexisting group health insurance coverage. The Fifth, Eleventh and Eigth Circuits' significant gap theory is not supported by the plain meaning of the statute or Congress' intent. The employee should have the choice to elect COBRA or decide whether …

Contemporary Social Policy Analysis And Employee Benefit Programs: Boomers, Benefits, And Bargains, Dana M. Muir

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.