By Christine H. Monahan, Kennah Watts, Miles Conde, Karen Handorf
Nearly half of the United States’ non-elderly population—136 million Americans—are enrolled in health insurance coverage regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). As health care grows increasingly unaffordable for both employers and workers, policy and legal experts are looking to ERISA as a mechanism to restrain health plan spending. Yet few people today can explain ERISA’s core features.
ERISA 101: Key Terms and Concepts breaks down ERISA’s complex legal jargon to help policymakers as they craft reforms to improve the affordability of employer-sponsored health insurance. In this explainer, you’ll learn:
- ERISA Basics: What constitutes ERISA health plans vs. non-ERISA plans
- Plan Components: What are plan documents and plan assets, and why they matter
- Key Players: Who are the key players involved in ERISA health plan oversight and administration
- Legal Essentials: What legal labels and obligations attach to these players
- Preemption: How ERISA preemption relates to affordability
Read the full fact sheet here. For more discussion regarding ERISA’s role in efforts to reduce health care spending, read Is ERISA Up for the Job? Improving Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Affordability.
