Sydelle Ruderman, et al v. Washington National Insurance Company-Class Action Case

It has been quite a while since I last posted a coment about this case. Indeed much has happened in the past 2 years.

First, we reached a partial settlement with Washington National involving the people whose benefits had been cut-off and were forced to go out of pocket for their care. Perhaps the most significant part of the settlement was our ability to pursuade the insurance company to put all of those people back on claim immediately and keep others on claim, who during the pendency of the case, were soon to reach either their occurrence maximum of $150,000 or lifetime maximum of $250,000. This aspect of the settlement not only provided immediate relief to people who had been paying huge sums of money for their care, but also assuaged those who would soon be in the same position. Needless to say, the feedback we received from the many people who we represented was overwhelmingly positive for which we are extremely gratified.

Second, we were able to agree through tough negotiations, that Washington National would put up 8 million dollars to satisfiy the claims of those people who went out of pocket after their benefits were cut-off. Also, we were able to agree to a streamlined claims process and limited the proof our clients would be required to submit in order to receive reimbursement.

Finally, although we tried very hard to negotiate a settlement regarding the amount of benefits available to the policyholders going forward, ultimately those negotiations broke down. Consequently, we brought a motion to the court asking for a judgment finding that all of the policy benefits should have been growing at a compounded rate of 8% per year from the date the policies were purchased. The court agreed and entered judgment accordingly. Effectively, because of the average age of the insureds, the policies will pay benefits for the rest of the insureds' lives. That judgment is on appeal in the 11th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The insureds will remain on claim during the pendency of the appeal, and regardless of the outcome, the insureds will no be required to pay any of the money back.

It has been estimated that the full value this case brought to the insureds is in excess of 30 million dollars.