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"para_307", "para_308", "para_309" ], "kind": "summary" } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "PRECEDENTIAL", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "No. 25-1723", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "JEFFREY M. AHN, MD,", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "Appellant", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "v.", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "CIGNA HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "COMPANY; JANE DOES 1-10;", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "ABC CORPORATIONS 1-10", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "On Appeal from the United States District Court", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "for the District of New Jersey", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "(D.C. No. 2:19-cv-07141)", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "District Judge: Honorable Evelyn Padin", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "March 24, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "Before: HARDIMAN, SCIRICA, and AMBRO, Circuit", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "Judges", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "(Filed: June 24, 2026 )", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_25", "court_paragraph": 2 }, { "text": "OPINION OF THE COURT", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge.", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "This appeal raises a question of first impression for this", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "Court: does the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "1974 (ERISA) preempt a healthcare provider’s defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "claim based on allegedly false statements in explanation of", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "benefits (EOB) forms sent to beneficiaries? We hold that it", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "does.", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "I", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "Appellant Dr. Jeffrey M. Ahn is an otolaryngologist", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "licensed to practice medicine in New Jersey and New York.", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "Appellee Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company is a", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "subsidiary of the Cigna Group. Though Dr. Ahn is not part of", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "Cigna’s provider network, some of his patients are insured by", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "Cigna. And when Dr. Ahn treats them, he submits claims to", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "Cigna. All of Cigna’s health insurance plans are governed by", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "ERISA.1", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "Dr. Ahn alleged that Cigna denied his claims about 50", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "times. In doing so, Cigna issued forms explaining why the", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "claims were denied. Many of these forms stated that the claims", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "were denied because Cigna did not pay for services performed", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "1 In the District Court, Dr. Ahn “disagree[d]” that the plans", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "were governed by ERISA. See App. 114. The Court found", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "otherwise, and Dr. Ahn does not challenge that determination", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "on appeal.", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "by unlicensed providers—i.e., that Dr. Ahn was not licensed to", "paragraph_id": "para_53", "court_paragraph": 3 }, { "text": "practice medicine. After he appealed the denials, Cigna", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "allowed them in whole, in part, or denied them for a reason", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "unrelated to his licensed status.", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "Dr. Ahn filed a three-count complaint in New Jersey", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "Superior Court, asserting claims for defamation, defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "per se, and tortious interference. After Cigna removed the case", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "to federal court, it moved to dismiss, or in the alternative for", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "summary judgment, citing ERISA preemption and the statute", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "of limitations. See Ahn v. Cigna Health & Life Ins. Co., 2019", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "WL 5304628, at *4–5 (D.N.J. Oct. 21, 2019). The District", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "Court deferred ruling on the ERISA preemption defense at that", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "time because it could not “determine from the Complaint", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "which of the . . . allegedly defamatory EOBs relate to Cigna’s", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "administration of plans covered by ERISA.” Id. at *4.", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "Following discovery, Cigna moved for summary", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "judgment on all of Dr. Ahn’s claims, again citing ERISA", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "preemption. In response, Dr. Ahn withdrew his defamation and", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "tortious interference claims, so only his defamation per se", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "claim remained.", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "The District Court granted Cigna’s motion. The Court", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "first addressed whether ERISA governed the plans. Cigna", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "submitted documents showing that the plans were “governed", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "by ERISA, include information required by ERISA (including", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "the plan sponsor’s Employer Identification Number), and", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "explain beneficiaries’ rights under ERISA (including the right", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "to bring an action under ERISA § 502(a), 29 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "§ 1132(a)).” Ahn v. Cigna Health & Life Ins. Co., 2025 WL", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "830217, at *4 (D.N.J. Mar. 17, 2025). Dr. Ahn offered no", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "record evidence to the contrary. So with one exception not", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "relevant here, the Court found that the plans were governed by", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "ERISA because they were “established or maintained by an", "paragraph_id": "para_85", "court_paragraph": 4 }, { "text": "employer for the purpose of providing . . . benefits.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "The District Court then held that Dr. Ahn’s defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "per se claim was preempted by ERISA. As the Court explained,", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "Dr. Ahn’s “claims arise from a central matter of plan", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "administration” because they were “premised on statements", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "made in EOBs sent to beneficiaries of ERISA plans” and", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "because “[t]hose EOBs were sent pursuant to Cigna’s", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "obligations under ERISA to provide written notice to patients", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "whose claims were denied, including the specific reasons for", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "the denial.” Id. at *6.", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "Dr. Ahn timely appealed.", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "II2", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "Section 514(a) of ERISA preempts “any and all State", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "employee benefit plan” governed by the statute. 29 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "§ 1144(a) (emphasis added). According to the language of", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "ERISA, “State law” includes “all laws, decisions, rules,", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "regulations, or other State action having the effect of law, of", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "any State.” Id. § 1144(c)(1). Because state common-law claims", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "2 The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction under 28", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "§ 1291. We review the District Court’s summary judgment de", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "novo, applying the same standard it applied. See Kelly v.", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "Borough of Carlisle, 622 F.3d 248, 253 (3d Cir. 2010).", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "Summary judgment is warranted when, viewing the evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "in the light most favorable to the non-movant, there are no", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "genuine issues “as to any material fact and the movant is", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a).", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "fall within this broad definition, they are often preempted by", "paragraph_id": "para_115", "court_paragraph": 5 }, { "text": "ERISA. See, e.g., Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon, 498 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "133, 140 (1990); Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U.S. 41,", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "48 (1987). The term “relate to” in § 514(a) also is “deliberately", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "expansive.” Ingersoll-Rand, 498 U.S. at 138 (citation omitted);", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "see also Pilot Life, 481 U.S. at 45–46 (ERISA’s “express pre-", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "emption provisions” are “designed to ‘establish pension plan", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "regulation as exclusively a federal concern.’” (citation", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "omitted)). This does not mean that § 514(a)’s broad scope", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "should “extend to the furthest stretch of its indeterminacy”;", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "otherwise, “for all practical purposes pre-emption would never", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "run its course.” New York State Conf. of Blue Cross & Blue", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "Shield Plans v. Travelers Ins. Co., 514 U.S. 645, 655 (1995).", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "So preemption does not apply if the state claim “has only a", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "‘tenuous, remote, or peripheral’ connection with covered", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "plans, as is the case with many laws of general applicability.”", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "District of Columbia v. Greater Wash. Bd. of Trade, 506 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "125, 130 n.1 (1992) (citation omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "“Implementing these principles,” the Supreme Court", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "“has described two categories of state laws that ERISA pre-", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "empts.” Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 577 U.S. 312, 319", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "(2016). “First, ERISA pre-empts a state law if it has a", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "‘reference’ to ERISA plans,” that is, where it “acts", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "immediately and exclusively upon ERISA plans or . . . where", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "the existence of ERISA plans is essential to the law’s", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "operation.” Id. at 319–20 (citations omitted). Second, “ERISA", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "pre-empts a state law that has an impermissible ‘connection", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "with’ ERISA plans.” Id. at 320 (citation omitted). A state law", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "can have an impermissible “connection with” an ERISA plan", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "if it “governs . . . a central matter of plan administration,” or", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "“interferes with nationally uniform plan administration.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "(citation omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "Cigna contends that Dr. Ahn’s per se defamation claim", "paragraph_id": "para_148", "court_paragraph": 6 }, { "text": "falls in the second category of state laws that are preempted by", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "ERISA: laws that govern, or interfere with the uniformity of,", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "plan administration and so have an impermissible “connection", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "with” ERISA plans. We agree.", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "We have observed that “[t]he ‘connection with’", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "component of this test . . . supplies scarcely more content than", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "the ‘relate to’ formulation.” Nat’l Sec. Sys., Inc. v. Iola, 700", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "F.3d 65, 83–84 (3d Cir. 2012). So we must “also look to ‘the", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "objectives of the ERISA statute as a guide to the scope of the", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "state law that Congress understood would survive,’ as well as", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "to the nature of the effect of the state law on ERISA plans.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "at 84 (quoting Cal. Div. of Lab. Standards Enf’t v. Dillingham", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "Constr., N.A., Inc., 519 U.S. 316, 325 (1997)); accord", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "Gobeille, 577 U.S. at 320. Those considerations lead us to", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "conclude that Dr. Ahn’s defamation per se claim is preempted", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "by ERISA. See 29 U.S.C. § 1001(a)–(b) (Relevant statutory", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "objectives include establishing uniform national safeguards", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "“with respect to the establishment, operation, and", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "administration of [employee benefit] plans” and “establishing", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "standards of conduct, responsibility, and obligation for", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "fiduciaries of employee benefit plans.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "A", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "The communication of claim adjudications to plan", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "participants and beneficiaries is a “central matter of plan", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "administration.” Egelhoff v. Egelhoff ex rel. Breiner, 532 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "141, 148 (2001). In Egelhoff, the Supreme Court held that", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "ERISA preempted a Washington statute that, upon divorce,", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "automatically revoked the designation of a spouse as the", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "beneficiary of the proceeds of an employer-sponsored life", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "insurance policy. Id. at 144–46. The statute directed plan", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "administrators to “pay benefits to the beneficiaries chosen by", "paragraph_id": "para_180", "court_paragraph": 7 }, { "text": "state law, rather than to those identified in the plan documents.”", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "Id. at 147. The Court reasoned that the statute “r[an] counter to", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "ERISA’s commands that a plan shall ‘specify the basis on", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "which payments are made to and from the plan’ . . . and that", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "the fiduciary shall administer the plan ‘in accordance with the", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "documents and instruments governing the plan,’ making", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "payments to a ‘beneficiary’ who is ‘designated by a participant,", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "or by the terms of the plan.’” Id. (quoting 29 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "§§ 1102(b)(4), 1104(a)(1)(D), 1002(8)). Because the", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "Washington statute “govern[ed] the payment of benefits, a", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "central matter of plan administration,” the Court held that it", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "was preempted. Id. at 148–50.", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "So too here. Cigna’s explanation of its benefits decision", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "is “central” to the administration of an ERISA plan. ERISA", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "requires plans to “provide adequate notice in writing to any", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "participant or beneficiary whose claim for benefits under the", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "plan has been denied, setting forth the specific reasons for such", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "denial, written in a manner calculated to be understood by the", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "participant.” 29 U.S.C. § 1133(1). Cigna discharges this duty", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "by issuing the explanation of benefits form. So statements", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "therein about the reasons for the denial of a claim are", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "inseparable from Cigna’s duty to provide a written explanation", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "of claim denials under ERISA. And any state-law claims", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "challenging the content of such statements would", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "impermissibly allow state law to regulate matters squarely", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "within ERISA’s “heartland.” Iola, 700 F.3d at 84; see also", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "Pilot Life, 481 U.S. at 43, 48 (common-law claims alleging", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "“improper processing of a claim for benefits under an", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "employee benefit plan[] undoubtedly meet the criteria for pre-", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "emption under § 514(a)”). As the District Court observed, “the", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "fact that Cigna sent the allegedly defamatory EOBs pursuant", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "to their obligations under ERISA shows how Dr. Ahn’s claims", "paragraph_id": "para_213", "court_paragraph": 8 }, { "text": "relate to ERISA.” Ahn, 2025 WL 830217, at *6.", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "has adopted similar reasoning. See Mayeaux v. La. Health Serv.", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "& Indem. Co., 376 F.3d 420 (5th Cir. 2004). In Mayeaux, the", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "court affirmed an order dismissing a physician’s tort claims", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "(including defamation) which challenged the insurance", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "carrier’s “handling, review, and disposition of a request for", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "coverage.” Id. at 432. As the court explained, allowing medical", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "practitioners to bring defamation claims when an ERISA plan", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "administrator decides not to cover a treatment “would", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "undoubtedly jeopardize the relationships among the traditional", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "ERISA entities, of which the treating physician is not one.", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "These are the sort of claims that go to the very heart of the", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "ERISA administration process.” Id. at 433. As in Mayeaux, Dr.", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "Ahn sues over the “handling, review, and disposition of a", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "request for coverage,” id. at 432, and his claim is so intertwined", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "with his patients’ ERISA plans that it “relates to” those plans,", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "see Ingersoll-Rand, 498 U.S. at 140 (citation omitted). So", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "ERISA preempts Dr. Ahn’s defamation per se claim.", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "Dr. Ahn attempts to distinguish Mayeaux by asserting", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "that “accusing a medical professional of being ‘unlicensed’", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "does nothing to establish standards of conduct, responsibility", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "and obligation for fiduciaries of employee benefit plans.” Ahn", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "Br. 12. But the relevant inquiry is not whether defaming", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "providers is central to an administrator’s fiduciary duties. It is", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "not. The right question to ask is whether communicating", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "benefits determinations to subscribers and beneficiaries is a", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "central matter of plan administration. It is.", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "B", "paragraph_id": "para_243", "court_paragraph": 9 }, { "text": "Preemption applies to this case for a second,", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "independent reason: Dr. Ahn’s defamation per se claim", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "“interferes with nationally uniform plan administration.”", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "Egelhoff, 532 U.S. at 148. “One of the principal goals of", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "ERISA is to enable employers ‘to establish a uniform", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "administrative scheme, which provides a set of standard", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "procedures to guide processing of claims and disbursement of", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "benefits.’” Id. (quoting Fort Halifax Packing Co. v. Coyne, 482", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "U.S. 1, 9 (1987)). “Uniformity is impossible, however, if plans", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "are subject to different legal obligations in different States.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "ERISA provides a civil enforcement “mechanism for", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "claims by beneficiaries or plan participants to question or", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "challenge the provision or amount of benefits.” Kollman v.", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "Hewitt Assoc., LLC, 487 F.3d 139, 150 (3d Cir. 2007). So there", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "is no need to subject explanation of benefits forms to state tort", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "claims like defamation. Doing so would be impractical as well.", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "When determining “the manner” in which claims decisions are", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "“written,” see 29 U.S.C. § 1133(1), plan administrators and", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "fiduciaries would have to consider not only ERISA’s", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "requirements, but also the common law of each state in which", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "participants and beneficiaries are located or seek services. And", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "“[r]equiring ERISA administrators to master the relevant laws", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "of 50 States and contend with litigation would undermine the", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "congressional goal of ‘minimiz[ing] the administrative and", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "financial burden[s]’ on plan administrators—burdens", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "ultimately borne by the beneficiaries.” Gobeille, 577 U.S. at", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "321 (quoting Egelhoff, 532 U.S. at 149–50). We therefore hold", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "that ERISA preempts Dr. Ahn’s defamation per se claim", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "because allowing state defamation laws to regulate the content", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "of EOBs would undermine uniformity in plan administration.", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "C", "paragraph_id": "para_275", "court_paragraph": 10 }, { "text": "In his effort to upend the District Court’s decision, Dr.", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "Ahn offers a mistaken understanding of the governing caselaw.", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "On his view, a claim that neither seeks benefits under an", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "ERISA plan nor requires more than a cursory examination of", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "an ERISA plan is not preempted. See Ahn Br. 12–15 (citing", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "Plastic Surgery Ctr., P.A. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 967 F.3d 218", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "(3d Cir. 2020)). But Plastic Surgery applied the same standards", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "we apply today. 967 F.3d at 230–35. He also cites Pascack", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "Valley Hosp., Inc. v. Loc. 464A UFCW Welfare", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "Reimbursement Plan, 388 F.3d 393 (3d Cir. 2004), but that", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "case involved a different ERISA preemption provision than", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "this one. Id. at 395; see also In re U.S. Healthcare, Inc., 193", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "F.3d 151, 160 (3d Cir. 1999) (explaining the difference", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "between complete preemption under ERISA § 502(a) and", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "express preemption under ERISA § 514(a)). Finally, Dr. Ahn", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "cites cases supporting the proposition that a provider can bring", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "a claim under ERISA § 502(a) if he has received an assignment", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "from a beneficiary. But there has been no such assignment", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "here. And even had one been made, it would bear only on a", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "claim brought pursuant to ERISA’s civil remedies provision—", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "a claim that Dr. Ahn concedes he has not asserted here.", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "***", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "ERISA broadly preempts state-law claims. The", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "explanation of benefits forms at issue in this appeal fall well", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "within the scope ERISA preemption. We will therefore affirm", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "the District Court’s summary judgment.", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "Nicholas A. Vytell", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "REPPERT OATES & VYTELL", "paragraph_id": "para_304", "court_paragraph": 11 }, { "text": "Counsel for Appellant", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "Adam N. Saravay", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "Scott M. 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