ERISA does not preempt everything

Electrostim, a provider of medical electrical stimulation services, sued Blue Cross for several reimbursement issues, as well as wrongful contract termination.   The Fifth Circuit found that the district court improperly denied leave to amend on the key issue, noting that in Electrostim’s briefing: “Electrostim specifically drew the district court’s attention to . . . partially paid claims and argued that its lawsuit challenged not only the denial of claims, but also the rate at which claims were paid. As we have explained, ERISA does not preempt state-law claims based on an allegedly improper rate of payment in violation of a provider agreement. Therefore, Electrostim has demonstrated, both to the district court and to this court, that because Electrostim can amend its complaint to put at issue the rate at which BCBSTX paid the partially paid claims, amendment would not be futile.” Electrostim Medical Services, Inc. v. Health Care Service Corp., No. 13-20649 (June 16, 2015, unpublished).