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Opinion of the Court
and dynamic as that presented here" (quoting Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors, 473 U. S. 305, 331, n. 12 (1985))); Patsy v. Board of Regents of Fla., 457 U. S. 496, 513 (1982) ("[T]he relevant policy considerations do not invariably point in one direction, and there is vehement disagreement over the validity of the assumptions underlying many of them. The very difficulty of these policy considerations, and Congress' superior institutional competence to pursue this debate, suggest that legislative not judicial solutions are preferable" (footnote omitted)).
We think, then, that courts are not in a position to derive a sound legal principle to differentiate an HMO like Carle from other HMOs.5 For that reason, we proceed on the assumption that the decisions listed in Herdrich's complaint cannot be subject to a claim that they violate fiduciary standards unless all such decisions by all HMOs acting through their owner or employee physicians are to be judged by the same standards and subject to the same claims.
C
We turn now from the structure of HMOs to the requirements of ERISA. A fiduciary within the meaning of ERISA must be someone acting in the capacity of manager, administrator, or financial adviser to a "plan," see 29 U. S. C. §§ 1002(21)(A)(i)-(iii), and Herdrich's ERISA count accordingly charged Carle with a breach of fiduciary duty in discharging its obligations under State Farm's medical plan. App. to Pet. for Cert. 85a-86a. ERISA's definition of an employee welfare benefit plan is ultimately circular: "any plan, fund, or program . . . to the extent that such plan, fund, or program was established . . . for the purpose of providing . . . through the purchase of insurance or otherwise . . . medical,
5 They are certainly not capable of making that distinction on a motion to dismiss; if we accepted the Court of Appeals's reasoning, complaints against any flavor of HMO would have to proceed at least to the summary judgment stage.
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