Kwasnik v. Oxford Health Insurance, Inc.

Background

Fiana Kwasnik filed a notice of motion asking the court to remand, or return, the case to New York County Supreme Court. She also requested costs and attorney’s fees. The defendants are Oxford Health Insurance, Inc. and Island Peer Review Organization, Inc. The filing describes claims concerning New York’s in-vitro-fertilization insurance mandate and Kwasnik’s right to an external appeal involving health-insurance coverage.

Arguments in the Motion

Kwasnik argued that her claims were not preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and therefore were not removable to federal court on that basis. She relied on New York Insurance Law §§ 3221(k)(6)(C)(vii), 4303(s)(3)(G), 4910, and 4914, as well as New York Civil Practice Law and Rules Article 78. She contended that the New York insurance laws were saved from ERISA preemption because they specifically regulated insurance. She also argued that the insurance plan was fully insured and therefore was not subject to ERISA’s “deemer clause,” that an Article 78 proceeding was not a federal-law question, and that the defendants’ conduct implicated an independent legal duty under New York law. The motion also asserted that Island Peer Review Organization, Inc. could not waive New York’s sovereign immunity.

Court’s Action

The court granted the motion in part. The order set July 14, 2022, as the defendants’ deadline to respond to the motion to remand and July 21, 2022, as Kwasnik’s deadline to reply. The court stated that it would later decide whether to hear oral argument. The supplied text does not show a ruling on whether the case would be remanded or on the request for costs and attorney’s fees. Judge Valerie Caproni’s order was therefore a scheduling ruling rather than a decision on the ERISA or New York-law issues.