These results are potentially unjust considering the participant’s lack of bargaining power with benefit providers, the participant’s lack of understanding of the benefit plan and language, and the participant’s lack of understanding of the administrative appeal and litigation process. With all of these factors favoring the plan provider and hindering the plan beneficiary, it seems apparent to me that ERISA’s provisions should attempt to assist the beneficiary, not the administrator. Clearly, Congress enacted ERISA to “secure employee pensions and benefits for their future use by employees.” See 29 U.S.C. 1001. Extending from this proposition, it would seem that Congress would have intended a judicial review to support that purpose, and assist employee beneficiaries claiming their rightful benefits. It remains to be scene whether the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the question of what is the correct language necessary in order to provide the plan administrator with sufficient discretion to interpret the benefit plan and it’s terms. As previously discussed, the Appellate Circuits have different interpretations of what language is necessary for a plan administrator to have discretion to interpret the plan, and therefore avoid a de novo review. Obviously, this is a very important question because the question of administrator discretion determines if the court reviews for an abuse of discretion. This issue can make or break an appeal and needs to be made consistent in order to provide similar findings throughout the federal court system. For the courts to be consistent with the intent behind the ERISA statute, they must hold plan administrators to a high level of specificity in granting discretionary authority. Plan administrators must not be given generic grants of power, but instead specific discretion limited by the plain language of the plan. Again, the court must understand that pl...
