Seyfarth Synopsis: As profiled in our recent publication of the 13th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings have a profound impact on employers and the tools they may utilize to...more
The Supreme Court of the United States has declined to hear the Self-Insurance Institute of America Inc.’s ERISA preemption challenge to a Michigan tax on health insurance plans....more
The Sixth Circuit, has decided, on remand from the Supreme Court, that the Michigan Health Insurance Claims Assessment Act (Act) is not preempted by ERISA. The Act imposes a 1 percent tax on all paid claims by insurers or...more
Last week, the Supreme Court ended its 2015-2016 session under a cloud of uncertainty. On February 22, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia, the stalwart of the Court’s conservative wing for 30 years, passed away. Justice Scalia’s...more
On March 1 the U.S. Supreme Court again reinforced the broad preemptive scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C.A. §1001. In Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 136 S. Ct. 936, the court...more
Editor's Overview - This month we feature three key developments. First, we review the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 136 S. Ct. 936, 947 (2016) wherein the Supreme Court held that a...more
In recent weeks, much of the discussion around a recent Supreme Court case, Gobeille, has focused on ERISA preemption. But for fiduciaries of benefit plans the case can serve as a reminder of important duties that often go...more
This is the second article of a three part series summarizing employee benefit issues that are being argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court during the current October 2015 term. Part One provided an outline of Montanile v....more
In Gobeille, Chair of the Vermont Green Mountain Care Board v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., decided on March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) preempts...more
In Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Supreme Court overturned a Vermont law requiring ERISA plans to disclose health payments to the state’s “All Payer Database.” The Court determined that reporting requirements are a...more
Recently, we reported on Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual, in which the Supreme Court invalidated the Vermont all-payer claims data base law. Applying what appeared to us as a straight-forward application of existing ERISA...more
Tax-writing House Committee Proposes $48 Million Hike - The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a package of revenue measures totaling more than $48 million. The package includes a transportation funding bill...more
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision reminds us that straying into the land of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) can be hazardous for an unwary state or health care provider. When ERISA preempts a...more
In Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pre-empts a Vermont law that requires healthcare providers, including health insurers and...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) made the regulation of employee benefit plans principally a matter of Federal concern. ERISA broadly and generally preempts—or renders inoperative—state laws that...more
Vermont and a few other states have adopted so-called “All-Payer Claims Databases” (“APCD”) in an effort to collect financial and other information relating to healthcare for purposes of controlling costs and generally...more
On March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court held that a Vermont law requiring detailed reporting of health data could not be applied to self-funded plans subject to ERISA. In Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the Court,...more
Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., 2016 U.S. LEXIS 1612, underscored the broad extent to which the preemption language of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more
The Court finds that ERISA preempts the state law “All Payer” data requirement. In a 6–2 decision issued on March 1, the US Supreme Court affirmed a US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision holding that the...more
On March 1, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company that delivered a big win for self-insured group health plans. The case involved a challenge to a Vermont law that required...more
In Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 14-181, 2016 U.S. LEXIS 1612 (Mar. 1, 2016), the U.S. Supreme Court held that ERISA pre-empts Vermont’s “all-payer database” law – to the extent it is applied to self-insured health...more
In a closely observed federalism battle over the scope of ERISA preemption, the Supreme Court came down on the side of Federal power. Specifically, in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the Court, in a 6-2 ruling,...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued decisions in two cases on March 1, 2016: Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., No. 14-181: Respondent Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, which has an “employee welfare benefit...more
On the first day of decisions since the unexpected passing of Justice Scalia, the Supreme Court of the United States ventured into the thorny area of preemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and...more
On March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, No. 14-181, holding that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pre-empts Vermont’s regulatory scheme requiring...more