January 2014

A divided panel on the Eleventh Circuit has imposed on plan administrators “an obligation to consider the evidence presented to the SSA” by the claimant. While it is not particularly novel to hold that an SSDI award must be considered – most circuits require disability claim administrators to consider an SSDI award, or at least to explain why it is not relevant – the Eleventh Circuit seems to have taken the requirement a step further, requiring the administrator to seek out the evidence the SSDI award was based on, and perhaps even delay an adverse decision until the SSDI process is completed.
Continue Reading Must disability claim administrators now obtain the SSDI file in the 11th Circuit?