I had two disparate items that I wanted to post on, one of which I didn’t really think had anything to do with the subject matters of this blog but that, nonetheless, was too cool a graphic not to pass on. Sitting here this morning, though, I figured out how to hook them together, so
Health Insurance
What Goes Up Just Keeps Going Up – Health Costs and Employer Mandates
By Stephen Rosenberg on
For a long while, I have felt like a lone voice or (to mix my metaphors) at least the skunk at the garden party, when I have criticized employer mandates and, even more so, the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act. As I have frequently discussed in various posts, the problem with these statutes is that…
On Preemption of Pay or Play Acts and the Supreme Court
By Stephen Rosenberg on
File this, I suppose, in the department of inevitable events – lawyers representing the restaurant industry have filed to have the Supreme Court review the Ninth Circuit ruling finding that the San Francisco pay or play ordinance is not preempted by ERISA. This is one of those instances where you can bet how the case…
The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act as a National Model . . .
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Maybe of what not to do.
I couldn’t let this go by without noting it – he has a Nobel after all and I, well, I have a sixth man award from a high school basketball team. Paul Krugman on health care reform:
Without an effective public option, the Obama health care reform will
…
The Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act: Demonstrating that ERISA Preemption is Health Care Reform’s Best Friend
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Well, I have argued more than once on these electronic pages that ERISA preemption, rather than being the whipping boy of choice for people who advocate state level health insurance mandates, should be understood as a key element in bringing about any type of effective change to the health insurance system. Why is that? Because…
The Supreme Court, Suffolk Superior Court and Ed Zelinsky, All Commenting on the Breadth of ERISA Preemption
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Two interesting things worth passing along this week on the topic of ERISA preemption, both reinforcing its breadth. The first is this well-written analysis of preemption out of the state trial court in Massachusetts, unusual for the reason that, normally, if ERISA preemption exists, the case ends up by original or removal jurisdiction in federal…
Some Notes on Fair Share Acts and the Economics of Health Insurance
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have argued many times on these – virtual – pages that fair share acts, and their backers’ obsession with trying to circumvent ERISA preemption, puts the cart before the horse, in that they focus on putting more health insurance obligations on employers without addressing the real reasons that employers struggle to provide health insurance…
A Random Walk Through the Ninth Circuit’s Preemption Ruling
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Disparate thoughts. Connect the dots. Or maybe more unintended consequences. Take your pick. While many advocates of health care reform cheer the Ninth Circuit’s conclusion that ERISA does not preempt all state pay or play laws, I am a little dubious as to whether this represents anything more than a Pyrrhic victory for anyone actually…
Is ERISA Preemption Coming to the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
You know that theme music from the movie Jaws? Cue it up – the sharks are circling the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act. Hard on the heels of the recent reports that the state is going to have to increase the financial obligations of employers to maintain the near universal coverage called for by the…
Massachusetts’ Pay or Play Act: The Triumph of Hope Over Experience?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have said it before and I will say it again: the day they fess up to the real costs of insuring the uninsured in Massachusetts and admit they need to pass that cost onto employers is the day before someone files a lawsuit asserting that the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act is preempted. Take…