Linda Clark, Health Care Controversies Practice Area chair, was interviewed by Wolters Kluwer for their Employee Benefits Management newsletter regarding how Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which involves a state’s right to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, might affect state regulation of benefits.
“Rutledge v. PCMA is a landmark case that can lead to meaningful regulations on PBMs across the country. PBMs have been relying on ERISA preemption to avoid meaningful oversight by states for years. If the US Supreme Court was to rule in favor of Arkansas, states would be empowered to enact legislation to regulate PBMs and the role they have in our health care system so that their citizens can make informed decisions with respect to their health care choices.”
“Imagine transparency in health care systems, where pricing, coverage, and dispensing criteria are available to all actors of the health care chain.”
Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association was argued before the US Supreme Court on October 6, 2020, and Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the court on December 10, 2020. As Linda had hoped, the court holds that ERISA does not preempt Arkansas’s Act 900.
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