Court Opinion

ID: 9498969
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 17:33:48.901532+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:59:11.827864
License: Public Domain

COOK, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the judgment reached by the majority, and I join the opinion in all respects other than I would distinguish Dunn v. Detroit Auto. Inter-Ins. Exch., 254 Mich.App. 256, 657 N.W.2d 153 (2002), rather than declare it “bad law.” In Dunn, the court interpreted a coordinated benefits clause to exclude temporary benefits provided by a privately-funded ERISA plan. And this opinion (correctly I believe) interprets a coordinated benefits clause as not excluding temporary benefits provided by a FEHBA plan. Sibley squarely held that temporary government benefits (under FECA) are not “benefits provided” under Mich. Comp. Laws § 500.3109. Thus Dunn is distinguishable because that court had no occasion to interpret whether, given Sibley’s statutory holding, a coordinated benefits clause employing language similar to the statute (and parallel to that used here) should be interpreted to exclude temporary government benefits.