Los Angeles Partner Ronald Alberts recently obtained a favorable ruling on behalf of client Aetna Life Insurance Company of America (Aetna) in a federal court ERISA case on the issue of whether Dependent Social Security (DSS) benefits the plaintiff received for his chldren could be off-set against the plaintiff's long term disability (LTD) benefits. The case was featured in the February 2, 2011 edition of DRI's weekly newsletter The Voice.
In dispute involved the key question of whether the LTD Plan language adequately addressed the criteria of what constituted "other income benefits," with the plaintiff arguing that DSS benefits are not disability benefits and that the language did not provide for such an offset. Aetna countered that the LTD Plan language clearly supported the off-set of long term disability benefits by DSS benefits.
The court agreed with Aetna and held that "a plain reading of the LTD Plan in this case inescapably supports an offset of DSS benefits." Please click here to read the complete article in The Voice.