This story crystalizes the need for real health care reform. Not a band-aid, but fundamentally changing the system. I cannot imagine how these people go on living knowing that they killed a teenager. And the family had no means by which to sue because the insurance industry is shielded by federal law.
Under ERISA, the courts have said, the only monetary damages that beneficiaries of workplace health plans can sue for is the cost of the treatment of service in dispute.
“ERISA is a license to kill,” Glovsky said. “The companies know that they can deny treatment with the sick or dead member having virtually no recourse.”