New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans, et al. v. Travelers Insurance Company, et al.

Decided April 26, 1995. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1408 · 514 U.S. 645 (1995) · Cited 1,597 times

Holding

New York’s surcharge provisions do not “relate to” employee benefit plans within the meaning of § 514(a) and, thus, are not pre-empted.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. · 463 U.S. 85 (1983)
• Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon · 498 U.S. 133 (1990)
• MacKey v. Lanier Collection Agency & Service, Inc. · 486 U.S. 825 (1988)
• Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. · 505 U.S. 504 (1992)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance v. Massachusetts · 471 U.S. 724 (1985)
• District of Columbia v. Greater Washington Board of Trade · 506 U.S. 125 (1992)
• Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. · 331 U.S. 218 (1947)
• Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc. · 451 U.S. 504 (1981)
• FMC Corp. v. Holliday · 498 U.S. 52 (1990)
• Pilot Life Insurance v. Dedeaux · 481 U.S. 41 (1987)
• Jones v. Rath Packing Co. · 430 U.S. 519 (1977)
• Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission · 461 U.S. 190 (1983)
• Hillsborough County v. Automated Medical Laboratories, Inc. · 471 U.S. 707 (1985)
• Maryland v. Louisiana · 451 U.S. 725 (1981)
• Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad · 272 U.S. 605 (1926)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Gobeille v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. · 577 U.S. 312 (2016)
• De Buono v. NYSA-ILA Medical & Clinical Services Fund Ex Rel. Bowers · 520 U.S. 806 (1997)
• California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
• Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn. · 592 U.S. 80 (2020)
• Egelhoff v. Egelhoff Ex Rel. Breiner · 532 U.S. 141 (2001)
• Maracich v. Spears · 570 U.S. 48 (2013)
• Mellouli v. Lynch · 575 U.S. 798 (2015)
• Rush Prudential HMO, Inc. v. Moran · 536 U.S. 355 (2002)
• Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc. · 552 U.S. 312 (2008)
• Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. · 570 U.S. 1 (2013)
• Dan's City Used Cars, Inc. v. Pelkey · 569 U.S. 251 (2013)
• Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n v. Elec. Power Supply Ass'n · 577 U.S. 260 (2016)
• Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton · 581 U.S. 468 (2017)
• Dubin v. United States · 599 U.S. 110 (2023)
• Pegram v. Herdrich · 530 U.S. 211 (2000)
• Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Bailey · 557 U.S. 137 (2009)
• Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC · 544 U.S. 431 (2005)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Boggs v. Boggs · 520 U.S. 833 (1997)
• Unum Life Insurance Co. of America v. Ward · 526 U.S. 358 (1999)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1995). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).