I’ve got a few things lined up this week to talk about, running from long term disability benefits litigation to avoiding ERISA litigation to subprime mortgages, but first I am going to veer off of my planned course to pass along and comment on a pair of interesting posts that showed up in my in-box
Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
State Mandates and Health Insurance Pricing
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Well now, this morning I came across this interesting post here, on the State Policy Blog, comparing health insurance pricing in one semi-unregulated state insurance market (Colorado) and in a state, Massachusetts, with a state mandate requiring health insurance. As you can see from the post, the numbers show pricing is significantly higher…
High Health Care Costs and the Impact on Fair Share Acts
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Okay, I mentioned on Friday that I had come across some other interesting blogs and sites over the last few weeks that I wanted to pass along, and that I would do so over the next few days. I jumped off track on doing that right off the bat with this morning’s post on insurance…
Pay or Play Acts: There’s No Free Lunch
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have written before that the underlying structural problem with fair share and similar acts, like the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act, that seek to mandate the provision of health insurance by employers is twofold: first, they play at the margins of a problem that is fundamentally about the base economics of health care…
Why Preemption?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act, Preemption
If, like me, you are fascinated not just by ERISA but by history and politics, this two part law review article, by James Wooten at the University at Buffalo Law School, on how ERISA preemption came to be, looks to be a must read. Here’s the abridged version of the story detailed in his articles: …
One View on What’s Wrong With the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
By Stephen Rosenberg on
In yesterday’s post on Darren Abernethy’s paper on Fair Share statutes, I ended up riffing on the question of whether the Maryland legislature, by putting before the courts a particularly bad version of such a statute, had distorted the development of the law of ERISA preemption in a manner that would only hurt the cause…
Preemption of Fair Share Acts: Did the Maryland Legislature Manage to Set The Whole Issue Back a Thousand Years?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Here is Darren Abernethy’s law review note on preemption of state fair share acts that mandate that employers provide certain levels of health insurance. His note, which I have discussed before, is very well done, and Darren has generously allowed me to share it here in full. As readers may recall from earlier posts,…
Complying with the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act
I have written a fair amount about whether the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Act is preempted by ERISA, but not too much about the practicalities of complying with the act for as long as it remains unchallenged and unpreempted. This despite the fact that I have been asked a lot of questions about compliance by…
One Proposal for Enacting Fair Share Legislation While Simultaneously Avoiding ERISA Preemption
By Stephen Rosenberg on
We previously mentioned William and Mary law student Darren Abernethy’s upcoming law review note presenting ideas on how to enact so-called fair share legislation – which attempts to obligate employers to provide certain levels of health insurance coverage – without running afoul of ERISA preemption. His note is now out, and those of you who,…
Some Interesting Papers on the Issue of State Health Reform Mandates
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have posted a fair amount on the impact of what are becoming known generically as “Fair Share” statutes, which are attempts to “reform” health insurance on a state level by means of mandating that employers provide health insurance benefits. I have talked about three main themes in my various posts on this topic, all…