Today, ERIC filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its litigation against the health care mandate on hotel employers in the City of Seattle.
Our brief argues that the Seattle law is preempted by ERISA because it requires employers (both in the hotel and lodging industry, and others who do business with these employers) to make direct payments to employees or provide specified levels of coverage under their group health plans, which has an inexorable reference to and connection with ERISA plans. We continue to point out that there is no presumption against ERISA preemption, and that the Seattle ordinance cannot survive ERISA preemption in light of more recent precedents than the infamous Golden Gate decision.
You can read the entire brief here.
Bloomberg has published an exclusive story covering ERIC’s legal filing and our ERISA preemption argument. In addition, ERIC has also issued a press release.
We are hopeful other business groups will stand with us by filing an amicus brief.
Article by James Gelfand, Senior Vice President of Health Policy