Maryland AG Issues Opinion On Fair Share Bill

Posted on January 9, 2006 by webteam

Maryland Attorney General Joseph Curran today issued a legal opinion that the Fair Share Health Care Act is not preempted by federal law. The opinion refutes several key arguments made by opponents of the bill. Excerpts from the letter are below:

January 9, 2006

The Honorable Michael E. Busch

Speaker of the House

101 State House

Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1991

Dear Speaker Busch:

You have asked for our advice concerning claims that the “Fair Share Health Care Fund Act,” (“the Fair Share Act”), which passed the General Assembly as Senate Bill 790 and House Bill 1284 of 2005 and was vetoed by the Governor, is preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). It is my view that the Fair Share Act is not preempted…

The Fiscal Note reflects that there are three employers in the State with more than 10,000 employees: Giant Food, Wal-Mart, and Johns Hopkins University. Of the three, only Wal-Mart has health insurance costs low enough to be subject to the payroll assessment. The Fiscal Note reflects claims by states that many Wal-Mart employees end up on public health programs such as Medicaid. Specifically, a Georgia study found more than 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees on Medicaid there, while a North Carolina hospital reported that 31% of Wal-Mart employees treated there were on Medicaid. Advocates of a California fair share bill argued that Wal-Mart employees cost the State $32 million annually in Medicaid costs…

The Fair Share Act does not in any way regulate the benefits to be available through plans, the eligibility for them, or the administration of them. In short, it imposes no requirements that would interfere with uniform nationwide plan management or set up contradictory requirements between states…

For all of these reasons it is my view that the Fair Share Act is not preempted by ERISA.

Very truly yours,

J. Joseph Curran, Jr.

Attorney General

Kathryn M. Rowe

Assistant Attorney General

Click here (PDF) to read the full text of the opinion.

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