The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an opinion in the important case of Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila, consolidated with Cigna Healthcare of Texas v. Calad. The court unanimously reversed and remanded the case in an opinion by Justice Thomas. Justice Ginsburg filed a concurring opinion that Justice Breyer joined. The Court held that respondents’ state causes of action fell within ERISA §502(a)(1)(B), and were therefore completely pre-empted by ERISA §502 and removable to federal court.

The New York Times is reporting–“Supreme Court Sides with HMO’s on Patient Suits“:

The Supreme Court said Monday that patients who claim their HMOs wouldn’t pay for needed medical care cannot sue for big malpractice damages, an issue at the heart of the long debate over efficiency versus service in managed health care. The court was unanimous in saying that two HMO patients in Texas cannot pursue big malpractice or negligence cases against their insurers, as they claimed a Texas patient protection law allowed them to do.

UPDATE: Lyle Denniston (via SCOTUSblog) has written about the case here.
You can also listen to his Audioblog post here.

More on the case later . . .