State mandated universal like Mitt Romney's blows up legally under 4th Circuit Ruling

[papau]

It would appear that Mitt Romney's Mass. Health care accomplishment blows up given the Fourth Circuit Ruling on the Maryland Fair Share Health Care Fund.

The Maryland"s Fair Share Health Care Fund Act that was scheduled to take effect 1/1/07, requiring employers to either provide health insurance costing at least 8% of pay, or pay an assessment to the State to cover the Medicaid cost of their employee's (only employers with more than 10,000 employees were covered - meaning only Wal-Mart) was tossed by the District Court, and last March was tossed on a 2 to 1 vote by the Fourth Circuit. (Retail Industry Leaders Ass'n v. Fielder (2007, CA4) 475 F:3d 180, 2007 WL ).

The Court ruled that ERISA's preemption prevented forcing an employer to pay a penalty if his benefit plan did not met a state's requirements (namely costing at least 8% of payroll) as that would defeat ERISA's goal of providing a single, uniform, national system of benefit administration regulation, stopping the need for any other than ERISA required record keeping. Maryland's penalty was a direct regulatory effect on plan administration, and proscribed and unenforceable.

So did Maryland pursue an "en banc" review by the full Fourth Circuit? Did Maryland make a direct appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court?

Doesn't Massachusetts under the Mitt Romney universal health care plan require in effect minimum employer health benefit outlays, and the employer making an alternative payment to the State Fund upon failure to meet the state requirement?

The Mass rules are that individuals who can afford private insurance will be penalized on their state income taxes if they do not purchase it. Government subsidies to private insurance plans will allow more of the working poor to buy insurance and will expand the number of children who are eligible for free coverage. Businesses with more than 10 workers that do not provide insurance will be assessed up to $295 per employee per year.

I believe the law Minnesota has under consideration has the same structure.

[Fearless]

1. Mitt Romney was strongly against Mass Health.

It was Kennedy that forced him into it.