This month marks the 50th anniversary of the bipartisan enactment of the Employee Retirement Income Savings Act (ERISA), which has ensured that generations of American workers and their loved ones can count on stable, affordable, quality health coverage.
ERISA was enacted to incentivize employers to offer robust coverage to employees across the country, which is the leading source of affordable, comprehensive, and high-quality health coverage in the U.S. A 2024 AHIP survey found a growing majority of consumers (75%) with employer-provided coverage (EPC) are satisfied with their current coverage and a strong majority (74%) prefer to get their coverage through their employer rather than through the federal or state government. Seventy-one percent believe the quality of their plan is "high."
A key feature of ERISA is that it established uniform standards that apply to all employees and their beneficiaries – including those residing in different states. These uniform standards enable health plans, employers, and labor unions to provide affordable, consistent and equitable coverage to all of their employees and their dependents. Among the many significant downsides that would result if ERISA were undermined, is the fact that workers and their dependent children who reside in different states would have different coverages to navigate.
ERISA’s framework enables health plans to keep administrative costs low by adhering to a uniform, national standard for regulation instead of attempting to provide health plans that meet the different, and at times conflicting, requirements of each state.
This framework allows employers to create flexible plans with robust coverage without the added cost of compliance with a patchwork of differing, conflicting and costly state regulations.
Health insurance should be simple and effective. Patients and employers shouldn't have to jump through hoops or navigate complex regulations to get the care they need at a cost they can afford. But if each individual state sets their own unique and conflicting rules and mandates, health insurance and health care will become even more complex and costly...not less.
ERISA has been central to ensuring generations of American workers and their loved ones could count on stable, affordable, high-quality health coverage. A patchwork of state-by-state regulations would increase costs and make health care harder for employers, employees, and their familes to afford, access and navigate. Protecting ERISA will help to ensure stable coverage for America’s workers and their loved ones for generations to come.