Brand Tarzana Surgical Institute, Inc. v. International Longshore & Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Ass'n Welfare Plan

**Hospital Can't Collect Directly from Union Health Plan** A surgical institute sued a union health and welfare plan, claiming the plan owed them money for medical procedures performed on union members. The hospital argued that union members had signed over their rights to the benefits, allowing the hospital to collect payment directly from the plan instead of billing the patients. The court ruled against the hospital and sided with the union health plan. The judges found that the plan's rules clearly stated that members could not transfer or assign their benefits to healthcare providers. Since the plan's language was clear and unambiguous, the hospital had no legal right to collect directly from the plan, even if patients had signed assignment forms. This decision protects workers by ensuring their union health benefits work as intended. It prevents healthcare providers from bypassing patients and going directly after union benefit funds. Workers can still receive care and use their benefits, but the plan's protections remain intact. This ruling reinforces that union health plans can maintain strong anti-assignment rules to protect their members' benefits from being claimed by outside parties, giving workers more control over how their healthcare benefits are used.