SPINEDEX PHYSICAL THERAPY USA v. UNITED HEALTHCARE

No. 12-17604.

770 F.3d 1282 (2014)

SPINEDEX PHYSICAL THERAPY USA INCORPORATED; Claude Aragon; Jack Adams; The Arizona Chiropractic Society, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED HEALTHCARE OF ARIZONA, INC.; United Healthcare, Inc.; United Healthcare Insurance Company; United Healthcare Services, Inc.; Ingenix, Inc.; United Health Group, Inc.; Defendants 5 & Diner Franchise Corporation Group Health Plan; Abbott Laboratories Group Health Plan; Acoustic Technologies, Inc. Group Health Plan; Adobe Drywall, Inc. Group Health Plan; ADP Totalsource, Inc. Group Health Plan; Affiliated Cardiologists of Arizona, P.C. Group Health Plan; Art in Metal U.S.A. Group Health Plan; Car-Graph, Inc. Group Health Plan; Citigroup, Inc. Group Health Plan; Discount Tire Co., Inc. Group Health Plan; Downtown Tempe Community, Inc. Group Health Plan; Faxwatch, Inc. Group Health Plan; General Motors Corporation Group Health Plan; Genuine Parts Company Group Health Plan; Home Depot USA, Inc. Medical and Dental Plan; Insight Enterprises, Inc. Group Health Plan; ITC Manufacturing and Powder Coating Group Health Plan; The Martz Agency Group Health Plan; Metlife Securities, Inc. Group Health Plan; Oldcastle Glass, Inc. Group Health Plan; Pinnacle Engineering, Inc. Group Health Plan; Pfizer, Inc. Group Health Plan; The Procter & Gamble Company Group; Qualex Inc. Group Health Plan; Qwest Communications International Inc. Group Health Plan, (United Group No. 0197313); Qwest Communications International Inc. Group Health Plan, (United Group No. 0229050); Revlon Consumer Products Corporation Group Health Plan; Richard A. Bietz, D.D.S., P.C. Group Health Plan; Shamrock Foods Company Group Health Plan; Shasta Industries, Inc. Group Health Plan; Sumco USA Corporation Group Health Plan; Temcon Concrete Construction Company Group Health Plan; URS Corporation Group Health Plan; Watson Williams Freight Agency, Inc. Group Health Plan; Wells Fargo & Company Group Health Plan; America West Holdings Corporation Group Health Plan; American Express Company Group Health Plan; AT & T Corporation Group Health Plan; Delta Airlines, Inc. Group Health Plan; Hasbro, Inc. Group Health Plan; Honeywell International, Inc., Group Health Plan; International Business Machine Corporation Group Health Plan; Iridium Satellite, LLC Group Health Plan; Lucent Technologies Inc. Group Health Plan; Southwest Airlines Company Group Health Plan, Defendants-Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Filed November 5, 2014.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Joseph Creitz (argued), Joseph A. Creitz Law Offices, San Francisco, CA; Joseph A. Garofolo , Garofolo Law Group, P.C., San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Nicholas James Pappas (argued) and Jared R. Friedmann , Reed Lawrence Collins , Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, NY; John Clifton West , Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Phoenix, AZ, for Defendants-Appellees.

Marcia Elizabeth Bove (argued), United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae Secretary of Labor.

Before: BARRY G. SILVERMAN, WILLIAM A. FLETCHER, and JAY S. BYBEE, Circuit Judges.


OPINION

W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Defendant United Healthcare ("United") is the claims administrator for as many as forty-four defendant health plans (the "Plans"; collectively with United, "Defendants"). For most but not all of the Plans, United insures plan benefits. All of the Plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA").

As assignee and would-be assignee...

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