Vermont requires all public and private entities that pay for health care services provided to its residents to supply data to its "all-payer database." The requirements apply to insurers and third-party administrators, among others. The Liberty Mutual Insurance Company filed suit to block Vermont from obtaining claims data for its employee health plan claiming that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) preempts any requirement that Liberty Mutual's third-party administrator provide information to Vermont's health care database. This case calls for the Court to decide whether Vermont's effort to track the health care services that are provided to its residents and the cost of those services runs afoul of ERISA's superseding authority over the regulation of employee benefit plans.

Originally published in American Bar Association - December 2015.