ERISA preempted an Illinois state law outlawing any claim on a workers’ compensation award, because the law related to benefits plans regulated by ERISA, a federal trial court decided. As a result, an employer may seek reimbursement of group health plan funds from workers’ compensation awards. The health plan paid the expenses before a determination was made that the claims were work related. The court determined that the settlements included reimbursement for health expenses that were paid by the plan. At least one of the awards was worded to assert that it was not a payment for health benefits, but the judge said that was an effort to stop a recovery attempt.

Employers may seek reimbursement of health plan funds from participants’ workers compensation awards, a federal trial court ruled, pushing the envelope of what are identifiable funds available for reimbursement.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois ruled in Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund v. Tackett, 2008 WL 2020504 (S.D. I11. May 9, 2008) that ERISA preempted an Illinois state law that outlawed any claim on anyone’s worker’s compensation award.

The law related to ERISA preemption is very complex, and the ability to ERISA plans to recover benefits is made even more complex because ERISA limits self-funded health plans to equitable relief rather than allowing them to simply seek to enforce their contract provisions and seek monetary reimbursement.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 8:18 am and is filed under 7th, ERISA, Illinois, Preemption. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.