Does ERISA Preempt Every State Law Regulating Benefits?
The Ninth Circuit (Federal Court of Appeals) has attempted to limit the pervasive and all-encompassing ERISA preemption of the regulation of health benefits by distinguishing the regulation of employers and insurers from the regulation of employee benefits by the state. Only time will tell whether this inroad by the anti-ERISA activists will stand or fade away as have many other challenges to the breadth of ERISA preepmtion. G. Cox, “Court: State Can Force HMO to Pay, 9th Cir. Finds that ERISA Pre-emption Doesn’t Apply” Nat’l L. J. (7/6/98).
