Federal Trade Commission v. Travelers Health Association

In Federal Trade Commission v. Travelers Health Association, 362 U.S. 293 (1960), a Nebraska insurance company solicited business by mail with residents of every state. The FTC issued a cease-and-desist order prohibiting certain representations it found to be misleading and deceptive in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Travelers, citing the McCarran-Ferguson Act, argued that the Federal Trade Commission Act was reverse preempted by virtue of a Nebraska statute which inter alia prohibited "deceptive acts and practices in the conduct of the business of insurance in any other state..." The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that "in our opinion the state regulation which Congress provided should operate to displace this federal law means regulation by the State in which the deception is practiced and has its impact", and that the McCarran-Ferguson Act was not intended to allow a state to "regulate activities carried on beyond its own borders." Id., 362 U.S. at 298-299, 300.