Guardian Flight LLC v. Godfread, No. 19-1343 (8th Cir. 2021)
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At issue in this case are two provisions of North Dakota Senate Bill 2231. The first prohibits air ambulance providers from directly billing out-of-network insured patients for any amount not paid for by their insurers (the payment provision). The second prohibits air ambulance providers or their agents from selling subscription agreements (the subscription provision).
Guardian Flight filed a declaratory judgment action claiming that both provisions are preempted under the Airlines Deregulation Act (ADA). Defendants responded that, even if preempted, the provisions were saved under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The district court concluded that although the ADA preempted both provisions, the McCarran-Ferguson Act saved the subscription provision.
The Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court's ADA preemption analysis and concluded that the ADA preempts both the payment provision and the subscription provision. However, the court held that the McCarran-Ferguson Act does not apply because the provisions were not enacted "for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance." Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions.
Court Description: [Wollman, Author, with Gruender and Kobes, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Airline Deregulation Act. In a declaratory judgment action asking the district court to declare two provisions of North Dakota law governing the billing and sales practices of air ambulance providers invalid as preempted by federal law, the district court concluded that N.D. Century Code Sec. 26-1-47-09(3) and 26-1-47-08 were preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act but that the provision governing the sale of subscription agreements was saved by the McCarran-Ferguson Act. This court affirms the district court's holding that the Airline Deregulation Act preempts the statutory sections but reverses the holding regarding the McCarran-Ferguson Act and the subscription provision, holding that the Act does not apply because the North Dakota provisions at issue were not enacted "for the purpose of regulating the business of insurance;" affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with instructions to enter judgment in favor of plaintiff.
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