NFL retirees sue league's disability plan for 'disturbing pattern' of denials

Ten retired NFL players have filed a putative class-action lawsuit against the league's disability plan over what they describe as an "overly aggressive and disturbing" pattern of denials.

In the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in a federal court in Maryland, retired Pro Bowl running back Willis McGahee and nine other former players claim the plan and its board members – including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell – have been "motivated by financial considerations to limit the payment of benefits to the very Players whom the Plan was designed to help."

"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the NFL’s betrayal of its players once we are no longer on the field and making them money," plaintiff Eric Smith, who played seven years in the NFL, said in a statement.

4TH AND MONDAY: Sign up to get the latest NFL news and stories sent to your inbox

In response to a request for comment, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy noted that the plan was collectively bargained by the league and the NFL Players' Association. He said it provides more than $330 million in annual benefits to retired players who qualify.

"The NFL-NFLPA disability plan is fair and administered by a professional staff overseen by a board comprised of an equal number of appointees of the NFL Players Association and the league, which includes retired players," McCarthy said. "This board reviews the activities of the office and operation of the benefit program, including every contested application for benefits to ensure that retired players who are entitled to disability benefits receive them as intended."

An NFLPA spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment Thursday.

Goodell, who serves as the non-voting chairman of that board, fielded a question about the league's disability plan during a news conference Wednesday, prior to the filing of the lawsuit. He said, in part, that denials are part of the process.

"You don't want people to benefit from it that don't qualify for it, because it takes away from people who do qualify for it," Goodell said.

"So you're always going to have people who may think they qualify for it. Doctors disagree. The joint board disagrees. That's the way the system works."

The NFL's disability plan, explained

So how does all of this work, exactly?

First, it's important to know that when players retire from the NFL, they are not automatically entitled to lifelong medical care and coverage. They can, however, file claims under the league's disability plan which, if approved, will allow them to receive financial compensation for their injuries – in some cases, up to $265,000 per year.

There are several layers to the plan, which is overseen by a joint board, and several levels of benefits players can seek. They can file a claim for "total and permanent" disability in the most serious cases, where they are no longer able to work, or line-of-duty disability, related to persistent and specific injuries.

Players are later evaluated by one of the plan's doctors, dubbed "neutral physicians," who make determinations on the severity of the player's injuries. Those reports are then shared with plan administrators, who determine whether the player's claim will be approved or denied.

So what does the lawsuit allege?

The size and scope of the disability plan has been collectively-bargained by the league and the union, so that is not at issue here.

Instead, the 10 retired players essentially claim the agreed-upon plan is not being carried out as promised.

In their lawsuit, the players point to "an overly aggressive and disturbing pattern of erroneous and arbitrary benefits denials" and allege the NFL disability plan's administrators "have erected oftentimes insuperable obstacles" that have kept players from accessing the benefits to which they are entitled.

McGahee, for instance, twice filed total and permanent disability claims, according to the lawsuit – first in 2016, then again in 2020. He was denied twice, then appealed the board's decision in 2021. He ultimately saw nine different doctors in connection with his claims, some of whom had evaluated dozens of retired players in connection with the plan but never filed a report supporting their claims, according to the lawsuit.

How do the doctors fit in?

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the retired players' lawsuit is the evidence and salary data it presents regarding the plan's "neutral physicians."

"There is powerful statistical evidence that strongly suggests a systematic pattern, that the more the Board pays a physician, the more likely the physician is to have a high rate of rendering opinions adverse to benefits applicants," the lawsuit states.

Among other figures, the lawsuit cites payment data for plan doctors from 2015 to 2016. It claims physicians who were paid $137,000 or more by the NFL disability plan concluded that a player met the criteria for total and permanent disability in 0.5% of cases. For physicians who were paid between $52,000 and $60,000, the lawsuit claims, that same percentage was 26.67%.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL retirees sue league's disability plan, allege 'disturbing' denials