Payne & Fears LLP Wins Complete Defense for Boeing ERISA Plan

Payne & Fears LLP represented a Boeing ERISA health plan which had been sued by a provider for the plan’s alleged wrongful denial of coverage due to a determination that the medical care being provided was excluded under the plan as an investigational treatment. Upon Payne & Fears LLP’s motion for summary judgment, the court held that the plan’s decision to deny coverage was only subject to abuse of discretion review under ERISA, and that under that review the plan’s decision to deny coverage was reasonable based on its investigation of the claims and its interpretation of the plan documents. Accordingly, having found there to be no abuse of discretion, all claims against the plan were dismissed with prejudice. Eric C. Sohlgren and Vonn R. Christenson handled the defense of this case.