What authority does the fiduciary have to determine eligibility in a long-term disability plan?

First, we have previously explained that a plan gives the fiduciary the authority to determine eligibility only if the plan includes at least "one important discretionary element, and the power to apply that element is unambiguously retained by its administrator. " Bogue v. Ampex Corp., 976 F.2d 1319, 1325 (9th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 1031, 113 S.Ct. 1847, 123 L.Ed.2d 471 (1993) (emphasis added). If the administrator does not retain the "power to apply" a discretionary element, it must apply the plan in a purely objective manner, and, more important, courts do not defer to its judgment. In Snow, this court applied the principle explained in Bogue, holding that a plan providing that "there will be no benefit unless Standard is presented with what it considers to be satisfactory written proof of the claimed loss" unambiguously vested discretion in the administrator. 87 F.3d at 330 (emphasis added). ³