Brad Harper v. American Chambers Life Insurance Company

898 F.2d 1432 12 Employee Benefits Ca 1238 Brad HARPER, Mary Deborah Harper, husband & wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMERICAN CHAMBERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, A Group Health Insurer; United Chambers Administrators, Inc., a foreign Corporation; American Employers Association, a foreign corporation, Defendants-Appellees. No. 87-15043. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Dec. 14, 1988 * . Decided March 26, 1990. John S. Schaper, Phoenix, Ariz., for plaintiffs-appellants. David F. Gaona, Evans, Kitchel & Jenckes, Phoenix, Ariz., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Before HUG, TANG and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges. OPINION TANG, Circuit Judge: 1 Brad and Mary Harper appeal the district court's judgment that their medical insurance policy was a "plan" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, thus precluding their state law claims. We reverse and remand. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS 2 Brad Harper and Mark Nelson formed a partnership, Nelson Harper & Associates, which began business operations in June 1984. Shortly thereafter, the partnership purchased health insurance for the…