Solicitor General recommends Court deny ERISA review

The U.S. Solicitor General recommended on May 28 that the U.S. Supreme Court deny the petition for review of Mulready v. the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA). AAOMS signed onto an amicus brief with the ADA in 2024 asking the Court to review an appellate court’s decision on this case, which interpreted ERISA to have broad preemptive power and effectively stripped states within the district of authority over self-funded plans. The decision conflicted with a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling – Rutledge v. PCMA – that narrowed the scope of ERISA preemption to matters related to plan administration (e.g., scope of benefits and eligibility). Last fall, the U.S. Supreme Court had asked the U.S. Solicitor General for input on the case, likely because the case pertains to a federal statute. While the Solicitor General’s recommendation carries significant weight, the Court is not bound by it. There is no specific timeline for when the Court will decide whether to grant or deny the petition.