ERISA update: the Supreme Court Texas decision and other recent developments.

This issue brief is part of a continuing series of policy papers published by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives program, housed at AcademyHealth, and the National Academy for State Health Policy on the state health policy implications of ERISA's preemption clause.1 The purpose of the brief is to explore the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2004 decision that ERISA preempts the Texas HMO liability law and its effects on other state health plan liability laws. The brief also examines implications of ERISA preemption for state health insurance regulation, "pay or play" health coverage laws, and premium assistance programs.