What sort of “medical treatment” triggers the pre-existing condition exclusion in an ERISA-governed disability policy?

Can taking over-the-counter vitamin supplements trigger the exclusion?  YES.

Here’s the case of Kutten v. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, __ F.3d __, 2014 WL 3562784 (8th Cir. July 21, 2014) (pdf).

FACTS: Kutten had a progressive eye disease. In 1994, his doctor directed him to start taking daily 15,000 unit doses of an over-the-counter vitamin A supplement. This could slow, but not cure, this progressive disease which can lead to blindness.

In June 2010 Kutten’s employer bought a new policy for the ERISA-governed disability benefit. This new policy excluded pre-existing conditions, defined as a condition in which the employee “received medical treatment, care or services, …or took prescribed drugs or medicines for the disabling condition” 3 months before the start of the policy. Kutten applied for disability benefits. Sun Life concluded the vitamin A supplements triggered the pre-existing condition exclusion as “medical treatment” and denied the claim. Kutten sued.

ISSUE:  Do vitamin  supplements constitute “medical treatment” sufficient to trigger the pre-existing condition exclusion?

TRIAL COURT HELD: Plaintiff wins — vitamin A supplements are not a “medical treatment” because such use does not require the same medical intervention as “prescribed drugs or medicines.”

EIGHTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: REVERSES (2-1 decision)

  1. Drawing a sharp distinction between ‘prescribed drugs or medicines’ and ‘medical treatment’ is a virtually impossible task because ‘prescribed drugs or medicines’…are forms of ‘medical treatment.’” Op. at 5
  2. “[T]he ordinary meaning of the phrase ‘medical treatment’ would encompass Kutten’s vitamin A supplements.  The supplements are ‘medical’ in the sense that they prevented or alleviated the progression of Kutten’s [eye disease and]… constituted a ‘treatment’ because it was the ‘manner,’ in fact the only manner, by which Kutten could ‘care for’ his condition.”  Op. at 6.
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Photo of Mike Reilly Mike Reilly

Mike Reilly is a nationally recognized labor, employment and employee benefits attorney, named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys in the Nation” for the past five consecutive years by Human Resource Executive®. He has decades of experience providing strategic employment…

Mike Reilly is a nationally recognized labor, employment and employee benefits attorney, named one of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys in the Nation” for the past five consecutive years by Human Resource Executive®. He has decades of experience providing strategic employment advice, and has represented clients in more than 75 jury trials, arbitrations, bench trials and claims before the EEOC and Washington State Human Rights Commission.

Small and large employers retain Mike for his strategic advice and decades of experience in employment issues and litigation, business decisions and litigation avoidance. Mike provides advice in claims involving discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, disability accommodation, ERISA and non-ERISA employee benefit claims, and wage/hour claims. He served as lead counsel in an employee raiding/trade secret case as reported in the Wall Street Journal, and defends employers in class action claims.

Mike’s remarks on employment issues have been quoted in NewsweekCorporate Legal TimesSeattle TimesEmployee Relations Law JournalPuget Sound Business JournalCFO.com, and other professional journals and management publications. Chambers USA’s Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Businessrates Mike in the top ranking (band one) for his work in labor and employment law, and has described him as “one of Seattle’s top-rate attorneys” who is “truly phenomenal [with] superb legal instincts” and “an amazingly assertive litigator.” His clients include Nordstrom, Seattle Seahawks, Home Depot, KeyBank, Starbucks, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Red Robin and Seattle Chamber of Commerce, among others.