Florence B. Corcoran Wife Of/and Wayne D. Corcoran v. United Healthcare, Inc., and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Inc.

KING, Circuit Judge:

This appeal requires us to decide whether ERISA pre-empts a state-law malpractice action brought by the beneficiary of an ERISA plan against a company that provides “utilization review” services to the plan. We also address the availability under ERISA of extracontractual damages. The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, holding that ERISA both pre-empted the plaintiffs’ medical malpractice claim and precluded them from recovering emotional distress damages. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The basic facts are undisputed. Florence Corcoran, a long-time…