PBM Lobby’s Legal Victory Is Perhaps an Even Bigger Deal to Large Employers
A federal appeals court on Aug. 16 delivered a significant victory for the under-fire PBM industry, ruling that an Oklahoma law regulating PBMs is preempted by federal statutes. Officials at lobbying groups that are closely watching the case say that the dispute may wind up before the Supreme Court — and if that occurs, employer plan sponsors will arguably have more at stake than PBMs themselves.
“I think it is highly likely to be appealed and to be pursued further,” says Dillon Clair, director of state advocacy and litigation at the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), which represents the employee-benefits interests of large employers. “This is a big case, not just for Oklahoma and their law and the employers that are going to have to comply with that, but for all the other state laws that have [been] enacted” and for states looking to follow suit.
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