By Carmen Castro-Pagan
The Federal Employees Health Benefits Act preempts a Kansas administrative regulation prohibiting subrogation and reimbursement clauses in health insurance contracts of federal government employees, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled .
The appeals court, in the Oct. 29 opinion, joining other federal courts in ruling that FEHBA preempts state laws limiting subrogation and reimbursement clauses. The decision confirmed the lower court’s ruling that a federal employee must reimburse her insurer because federal common law also displaced Kansas regulation.
The case is Helfrich v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield Ass’n, 2015 BL 356222, 10th Cir., No. 14-3179, 10/29/15