ERISA

About ERISA
ERISA is the acronym for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which was established in 1974. ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily launched pension and health plans in private industry to ensure protection for individuals in these plans.

ERISA necessitates plans to supply the participants with plan information including vital information about plan features and funding. It also provides fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage and control plan assets. A fiduciary is a person who occupies a position of trust in relation to someone else such that he is required to act for the latter's benefit within the scope of that relationship. ERISA also requires plans to institute a grievance and appeals process for participants to get benefits from their plans. Finally, ERISA gives participants the right to sue for benefits and breaches of fiduciary duty.

Several amendments to ERISA have been made since its 1974 inception. These ERISA amendments have expanded the protections available to health benefit plan participants and beneficiaries. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is an important amendment to ERISA that provides some workers and their families with the right to continue their health coverage for a limited time after certain events, such as the loss of a job.

Another important amendment to ERISA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The HIPAA amendment to ERISA provides important new protections for working Americans and their families who have preexisting medical conditions or might otherwise suffer discrimination in health coverage based on factors that relate to an individual's health.

ERISA has also undergone several other amendments important to its structure. ERISA's additional amendments include the Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, the Mental Health Parity Act, and the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act. These ERISA amendments serve a grand purpose in their own respective rights in protecting the interests of the individual enrolled in the health and pension plan.

ERISA's focus on protection is based in the private sector of business and industry. In general, ERISA does not cover group health plans established or maintained by governmental entities or churches for their employees. Plans maintained solely to comply with applicable workers compensation, unemployment, or disability laws are not to be covered by ERISA either. ERISA also does not cover plans maintained outside the United States primarily for the benefit of nonresident aliens or unfunded excess benefit plans.