Lawyers Group Wins Injunction to Keep its Health Insurance

A health insurance company must continue covering members of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association until a breach of contract suit is resolved, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay ruled Thursday. Quidachay granted a preliminary injunction requested by the lawyers group. The association sued Health Net of California and its parent company, Health Net Inc., in August after the insurer refused to renew two of the group's policies.

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A health insurance company must continue covering members of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association until a breach of contract suit is resolved, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay ruled Thursday. Quidachay granted a preliminary injunction requested by the lawyers group. The association sued Health Net of California and its parent company, Health Net Inc., in August after the insurer refused to renew two of the group’s policies. Those policies cover about 200 members, plus 150 of their staff and family members. Terrence Coleman, a member of the association’s board of directors and the group’s attorney in the suit, called Quidachay’s ruling “a tremendous victory at the outset.” Health Net had planned to terminate members’ coverage Nov. 30, but is now prohibited from doing so if the case has not been resolved, said Coleman, a partner at Pillsbury & Levinson. Coleman said he hopes the ruling persuades Health Net to rethink its position. Brad Kieffer, a spokesman for Health Net of California, said the company was disappointed by Quidachay’s ruling. “We are analyzing our options,” he said. The insurer has said the lawyers association doesn’t meet the legal requirements for the policies it wants renewed. Coleman has countered that Health Net informed the group it doesn’t qualify as a “guaranteed association,” a type of group protected from policy cancellation under state law. The association argues that designation is irrelevant, because Health Net is obligated under contract to renew the policies. Health Net has filed a petition to compel arbitration in the case, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association v. Health Net of California Inc., 423782. A hearing before Quidachay is scheduled for Oct. 8.

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