Difelice v. Aetna U.S. Healthcare

I am satisfied that Judge Rendell’s opinion reaches the correct result under our governing caselaw. While I thus join in her opinion and in the judgment, I write separately to add my voice to the rising judicial chorus urging that Congress and the Supreme Court revisit what is an unjust and increasingly tangled ERISA regime.

Congress enacted ERISA in 1974 “to promote the interest of employees and their beneficiaries in employee benefit plans.” Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U.S. 85, 90, 103 S.Ct. 2890, 77 L.Ed.2d 490 (1983) (surveying Congressional statements of purpose). However, with the…