From Bloomberg Law, by Jacklyn Wille:
- “Cross-Plan Offsetting” is the practice by an insurer of clawing back benefits it says were overpaid to a provider under one plan by reducing future payments to the provider under a different plan that it administers.
- This common insurance billing tactic has invited litigation over its legality and opposition from the Labor Department.
- In one such case, the Eighth Circuit is being asked to decide whether Smith and Ghanim, who are covered by health plans funded by their employers and administered by United, have been harmed in a way that would give them standing to challenge the practice under ERISA.