Friday, May 27, 2011

Florida Legislature Updates Limited Liability Company (LLC) Statute in the Wake of Last Year's Olmstead Decision of the Florida Supreme Court

Asset protection attorney Jonathan Alper, Esq. has posted an article on the Florida Asset Protection Blog reporting that the Florida Legislature has amended the LLC Statute to limit the reach of the holding of the Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. Federal Trade Commission, 44 So. 3d 76 (Fla. 2010), which we previously blogged about here.

The holding expanded the remedies available to creditors of the members of an LLC to include the forced sale of the member's interest. The new legislation limits application of the Olmstead remedy to single member LLCs only. It provides that the charging lien is the only remedy available to creditors of a member of a multi-member LLC.

The new legislation can be viewed here. Prior articles discussing Olmstead can be read here, here, and here.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

United States Supreme Court Expands Remedies Available to Healthcare Providers and Patients Under ERISA

CROSS-POSTED FROM HEALTHCARE PROVIDER PAYMENT

The United States Supreme Court recently ruled in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara, 563 U.S. ____, 348 Fed. Appx. 627 (May 16, 2011), that a fiduciary of an Employee Benefits Plan (including a Health Plan) can be sued for unpaid benefits under ERISA § 503(a)(3). Previously, courts had been reluctant to order payment of money under this section, which by its terms authorizes "other appropriate equitable relief," on the ground that the payment of money was traditionally a legal remedy, not an equitable one. The Supreme Court has now dismissed that idea, discussing in detail the history of courts of equity, and stating that, "[t]he power to reform contracts (as contrasted with the power to enforce contracts as written) is a traditional power of an equity court, not a court of law," and further, "[e]quity courts possessed the power to provide relief in the form of monetary compensation for a loss resulting from a trustee’s breach of duty, or to prevent the trustee’s unjust enrichment." Therefore, a suit may now be maintained under § 503(a)(3) for reformation of a contract and for the payment of money, among other things.

This holding is of utmost importance to healthcare providers and patients who have been denied payment by a health insurance company. The only recourse for payment of benefits prior to this ruling was a lawsuit under § 503(a)(1)(B) for wrongful denial of benefits. But this lawsuit could only be brought against the Plan itself, and not necessarily against a plan administrator or fiduciary. Now, it would seem, recourse is available against the plan fiduciary as well as the Plain itself.

Healthcare providers, including hospitals, ancillary care providers, physician practice groups, and individual practitioners, are encouraged to carefully follow up on denied claims, and to seek third party review wherever possible. Medical Accounts Systems provides this service on a contingency fee basis (a fee is only owed if recovery is made), and when necessary, Jorge M. Abril, P.A. files suit in Federal Court to recover payment for services provided to ERISA participants and beneficiaries.