>> > Federal appeals courts, interpreting Supreme Court decisions dating to
>> > 1993, consistently have said companies that offer health, life and
>> > retirement benefits under ERISA cannot be sued for large amounts of
>> > money, or damages. Instead, they can be sued only for typically
>> > smaller sums such as Amschwand's insurance premiums.
>>
>> Guess you missed this part in your own post:
>>
>> The Bush administration has argued that the appeals courts are
>> misreading the precedents and has asked the high court at least twice
>> to clarify the earlier rulings. So far it has refused.
>>
>> BTW, this is an old law. It also applies to settlements from accidents.
>> There was a Wal*Mart worker who was injured in a car accident, and while
>> the suit against the other driver was in litigation, Wal*Mart's insurance
>> company paid the bill, and Wal*Mart paid Worker's Comp.
>>
>> She was awarded something like $750,000 or so, and the insurance co and
>> Wal*Mart asked for their money back.
>>
>> Better read the fine print on your health insurance; almost every policy
>> in the country is written this way.
>
>Without federal standards and laws we are subject to the wims of
>unregulated corporations.
As is the wish of every good neocon.