W. A. Griffin v. United Healthcare of Georgia, Inc., et al.

Whether or not a plan administrator and/or plan fiduciary of an ERISA governed welfare benefit plan waived the rights to assert provider antiassignment provisions when plan fiduciaries failed to notify the provider of the anti-assignment provision during the administrative appeals process.' Whether or not a plan administrator is liable for statutory penalties under ERISA co-fiduciary principles if its designated claims fiduciary failed to provide document request, refused to provide the address and/or contact information for the plan admininistrator upon request, and failed to forward the document request to the plan administrator upon request 'Recently, the 11 th circuit has suggested that the State of Georgia does not have a mandatory provider assignment of benefit statue that expressly prohibits provider anti-assigment clauses in health plans. See Georgia § 33-24-54. See Griffin V. Focus Brands, Inc., 635 Fed.Appx. 796 (2015); Additionally, even if the State of Georgia has a mandatory assignment of benefit statue, the 11th Circuit has stated that it would not be preempted by ERISA. See Griffin v. Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.686 FedAppx. 820, 11th Cir.(Ga.), Apr. 27, 2017. As such, the question in this petition focuses on conduct that waives provider anti-assignment provisions in plan documents.