Angiosarcoma Life Insurance Claim Denied
The U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to hear the case of a Texas woman, Melissa Bellinger, who was denied life insurance proceeds of $426,000 because her husband's employer changed policies after he became sick. A lower court had ruled a federal retirement law did not entitle her to sue for compensation.
Her husband died in February of 2001. He had cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare cancer that started in his heart, then spread to his lungs and brain. His company's insurer denied the benefit because Thomas had not returned to work for at least a day after the new policy took effect. That one day at work would have triggered his life insurance coverage.
His wife's lawyers maintained that Thomas could have put in at least one day even though he was quite sick. However, his employer never told him of that requirement, wouldn't give insurance plan documents to him and assured Thomas that he was covered with the switch of insurers.
According to an Associated Press report, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 allows beneficiaries to sue to get equitable relief. That kind of relief usually involves a court injunction or ordering restitution. Legal relief would involve money damages.
A federal judge in Houston and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans didn't allow the lawsuit to go forward, saying that Bellinger couldn't sue for monetary relief equal to the insurance benefits.
