Vermont's case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court

... over whether the state can require a self-insured plan to provide data for its database or plans are protected from state regulation under ERISA, "...is a foot in the door type of thing, which is why insurance companies don't like it. In this particular case, the information that is being sought is from a self-insured employer's plan. Vermont does not have any jurisdiction to regulate that, but they are trying to get this data to somehow compare with their whole universe of data. And these plans naturally say, 'well, OK, the state isn't regulating our plan. If they get our data, what's next?' If you let the camel's nose into the tent, that's the state's nose, the rest of the camel will be following it. And there will be other attempts to get more things and to use precedent to regulate plans now outside of regulation."

— Stuart Gerson, an attorney in the Litigation and Health Care and Life Sciences practices at Epstein Becker Green, told AIS's Health Plan Week.