Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (577 U.S. 312)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 1, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 577 U.S. 312 · 136 S. Ct. 936
- Decided
- March 1, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 6–2
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents a challenge to the applicability of a state law requiring disclosure of payments relating to health care claims and other information relating to health care services. Vermont enacted the statute so it could maintain an all-inclusive health care database. Vt. Stat. Ann., Tit. 18, § 9410(a)(1) (2015 Cum. Supp.) (V.S.A.). The state law, by its terms, applies to health plans established by employers and regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. The question before the Court is whether ERISA pre-empts the Vermont statute as it applies to ERISA plans. I A Vermont requires certain public and private entities that provide and pay for health care services to report information to a state agency. The reported information is compiled into a database reflecting "all health care utilization, costs, and resources in [Vermont], and health care utilization and costs for services provided to Vermont residents in another state." 18 V.S.A. § 9410(b). A database of this kind is sometimes called an all-payer claims database, for it requires submission of data from all health insurers and other entities that pay for health care services. Almost 20 States have or are implementing similar databases. See Brief for State of New York et al. as Amici…
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