Two health systems and a hospital agreed to pay a combined $164 million in 2019 to resolve allegations that they used a religious Employee Retirement Income Security Act exemption they weren't entitled to, according to Bloomberg Law.
Dignity Health's $100 million ERISA class-action settlement was the largest settlement of the year across all industries. A judge has withheld approval of the settlement until the parties rework how attorneys' fees will be paid in the case, according to the report.
The other two provider organizations that settled "church plan" lawsuits this year paid much smaller amounts. St. Louis-based SSM Health and Chicago-based St. Anthony Medical Center paid $60 million and $4 million, respectively, to resolve ERISA class-action cases in 2019.
Across all industries, roughly 30 ERISA class-action lawsuits were settled this year. Those settlements totaled $449 million, up from $291 million in 2018, according to the report.
Access the full Bloomberg Law article here.
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