Court decisions are public, and the database holding them is free. Almost nobody outside the legal profession knows how to search it, which is the only reason it feels out of reach.
Three things to hold onto before you use it. A search result is a case that mentions your words, not a case that was won — a decision can discuss gender-affirming surgery because the patient lost. A decision from a district court binds only that district, so a good case from somewhere else is persuasive where you live, not controlling. And a case is not a plan document: yours is what your appeal turns on.
Searches go to this site’s own server and nowhere else. That path keeps no log of what was searched.
A decision binds only its own circuit, so one from where you live carries weight a better case from elsewhere does not. Citation count is a rough proxy for how much other courts have relied on it.
9 cases mention these terms. This does not mean they were won. A case can appear here because the patient lost. Read it, or have someone read it, before citing it.
And v. Essentia Health
District Court, D. Maine · 2018-09-20 · cited 20 times
342 F. Supp. 3d 947
Tovar v. Essentia Health
District Court, D. Minnesota · 2016-05-11
187 F. Supp. 3d 1055 · 61 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2901 · 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 62529 · 2016 WL 2745816
Brittany Tovar v. Essentia Health
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 2017-05-24 · cited 39 times
857 F.3d 771 · 2017 WL 2259632 · 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 9009 · 130 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 169
Radtke v. Miscellaneous Drivers & Helpers Union Local 638 Health, Welfare, Eye & Dental Fund
District Court, D. Minnesota · 2012-04-02
867 F. Supp. 2d 1023 · 53 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1155 · 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46093 · 114 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1126 · 2012 WL 1094452
Marc Andrew Mario v. P & C Food Markets, Inc.
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2002-12-20 · cited 1143 times
313 F.3d 758 · 29 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1907 · 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 26433 · 90 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 948 · 2002 WL 31845877
The Religious Sisters of Mercy v. Xavier Becerra
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit · 2022-12-09 · cited 14 times
55 F.4th 583
Pritchard v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 2025-11-17
American Academy of Pediatrics v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
District Court, District of Columbia · 2026-01-11
O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court · 2010-02-02 · cited 11 times
134 T.C. 34 · 2010 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 4 · 134 T.C. No. 4
Last updated 2026-08-06 · Not legal or medical advice