Excerpt: In Helfman v. GE Group Life Assurance Company, No. 08-2168 (6th Cir. 2009), the Court faced the question of whether a program, which consisted of two insurance policies that paid long-term disability benefits to employees (the 'Program'), was subject to ERISA. The plaintiff did not want the Program to be subject to ERISA, because he was bringing a state law claim against the insurers under the Program which ERISA would preempt. The case centered on whether the Program was exempt from ERISA under the 'safe harbor' found in the Department of Labor's regulations at 29 C.F.R. § 2510.3-1(j). For the safe harbor to apply to the Program, among other requirements of the regulations, no premiums may be paid to the Program by an employer (the 'No Premium Condition').

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