HCFO Issue Brief--September 2002
In fashioning legislative and regulatory responses to
consumer and plan sponsor
concerns about our current health care system,
policymakers increasingly find themselves
dealing with questions involving the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
(ERISA) and its relationship to
employer-sponsored group health plans. Although
ERISA establishes uniform minimum standards for
group health plans in a variety of
areas, the application of these
standards and the liability for those charged with carrying
out the standards may vary widely, depending on the
way the plan sponsor has structured
its employee benefit
plan.