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Topic: ERISA

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	U.S. Department of Labor - Find It By Topic - Health Plans - ERISA
		Another amendment to ERISA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which 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.
		In general, ERISA does not cover group health plans established or maintained by governmental entities, churches for their employees, or plans which are maintained solely to comply with applicable workers compensation, unemployment, or disability laws.
		ERISA also does not cover plans maintained outside the United States primarily for the benefit of nonresident aliens or unfunded excess benefit plans.
	www.dol.gov /dol/topic/health-plans/erisa.htm (288 words)

	Health Hippo: ERISA Primer
		ERISA is a complex statute and this section is intended to provide a brief overview of the law, rather than a complete reference.
		ERISA grants exclusive jurisdiction over claims to the federal courts, with the exception of actions to enforce the terms of the plan itself, for which state courts have concurrent jurisdiction.
		ERISA's preemption clause has been broadly contstrued by the Supreme Court, which has found that a state law is preempted if it has a connection with or reference to an employee benefit plan.
	hippo.findlaw.com /ERISA.html (945 words)

	History of EBSA and ERISA
		The provisions of Title I of ERISA, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, were enacted to address public concern that funds of private pension plans were being mismanaged and abused.
		ERISA was the culmination of a long line of legislation concerned with the labor and tax aspects of employee benefit plans.
		The administration of ERISA is divided among the U.S. Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service of the Department of the Treasury (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
	www.dol.gov /ebsa/aboutebsa/history.html (1033 words)

	What is ERISA?
		ERISA requires plans to provide participants with specific information about plan features and funding and establishes certain fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage the plan.
		ERISA was created to protect the interests of employees and their beneficiaries (such as spouses and children) who are enrolled in pension plans.
		ERISA requires participants to receive disclosure and reporting and establishes the obligations and responsibilities of the "fiduciaries" that administer the plans.
	www.tiaa-cref.org /administrators/plan_admin/erisa/erisa_5.html (449 words)

	ERISA Tools
		ERISA also incorporates and is tied to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions designed to encourage employers to provide retirement and other benefits to their employees.
		ERISA gives DOL and benefit plan participants and beneficiaries easy access to federal courts to enforce the law's reporting and disclosure and fiduciary/asset management requirements and to sue for benefits.
		Because ERISA's fiduciary rules bar employers from using plan assets for their own benefit, DOL has issued regulations that define when employees' contributions to a benefit plan become plan assets, must no longer be in the employer's possession, and must be deposited into a plan account.
	hr.blr.com /analysis.cfm/topic/60/state/155/tab2/9999 (10600 words)

	Brininger LTD FEBRUARY 1996 ERISA NEWSLETTER
		To establish a prima facie case of unlawful pension discrimination, a plaintiff must show that: (1) he had the opportunity to attain rights under an ERISA benefit plan; (2) he was qualified for the position at issue; and (3) he was subjected to adverse action under circumstances that give rise to an inference of discrimination.
		ERISA provides no relief if the loss of an employee's benefits was incidental to, and not the reason for, the adverse employment action.
		As to the participant's diversification claim, the court cited the factors to be considered in determining whether a breach occurred: (1) purpose of plan; (2) amount of plan assets; (3) financial and industrial conditions; (4) type of investment; (5) distribution as to geographic location; (6) distribution as to industries; and (7) dates of maturity.
	www.erisalitigation.net /articles/1996/9602ernl.htm (3159 words)

	ERISA
		ERISA was enacted by Congress to address irregularities in the administration of certain large pension plans, particularly the Teamsters Pension Fund, which had had a rather colorful history, involving questionable loans to certain Las Vegas Casinos.
		Thus, ERISA imposes upon the innocent claimant the burden of not only establishing that the claim denial was wrongful, but also the burden of paying a substantial part of the legal costs in doing so.
		In a typical ERISA claim dispute, the amount in controversy is relatively low in relation to the amount of attorney time required to pursue the case effectively.
	members.aol.com /MMckuin/erisa.html (2576 words)

	Employee Retirement Income Security Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		ERISA requires pension plans to provide for vesting of employees' pension rights after a specified minimum number of years and to meet certain funding requirements.
		ERISA does, on the other hand, require employers to provide some forms of benefits, such as joint and survivor annuities that allow married couples who have opted for such coverage to provide for continuing benefits to a surviving spouse, that plans might not have offered previously.
		ERISA likewise does not require employers to provide any health insurance, but regulates the manner in which such health benefits plans operate.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ERISA (1523 words)

	ERISA Managed Care Organizations Should Be Held Accountable For Decisions That Harm Patients
		ERISA enrollees can only recover the value of the benefit denied, an obviously inadequate remedy for patients who have been seriously injured or have died due to negligence on the part of MCOs.
		The ERISA preemption would be amended only for the narrow purpose of affording patients enrolled in ERISA-regulated MCOs the ability to seek redress under state law for injuries caused by negligent MCO actions.
		ERISA clearly fails to provide an adequate remedy for Benoit: it is unrealistic to believe that a man awaiting surgery in a hospital after a traumatic accident would think to invoke the protections of ERISA to compel coverage of the operation.
	www.apa.org /practice/erisa.html (1873 words)

	ERISA Page
		While ERISA may have many specific purposes not addressed herein, in general, ERISA was enacted in an effort to encourage employers to offer benefits to their employees.
		ERISA promotes employer-based benefits by eliminating or reducing the burdens of compliance within each particular State or locality for which employees or beneficiaries reside.
		While ERISA defines who is and who is not a Fiduciary, in general sponsors and administrators are deemed to be Fiduciaries.
	www.clientfirst.com /erisa.asp (737 words)

	Erisa Law
		ERISA was enacted by Congress in 1974 to address corruption in pension plans.
		ERISA includes the federal statute, 29 U S C ß 1001, et seq., regulations, which appear in Chapter 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and decisional law of the Federal Courts.
		Thus, for ERISA policies, it is often too late if you wait until after the insurance company has made its final decision to retain a lawyer.
	www.stc-law.com /Erisa/erisalaw.htm (872 words)

	ERISA Litigation - Know your rights!
		Prior to ERISA, many employers were promising lucrative retirement and pension benefits, but when it came time for the employee to draw down on these benefits, either the money was not there or the employer was bankrupt or out of business.
		ERISA was intended to fix this problem by requiring appropriate segregation of pension and profit sharing funds, insurance for these funds and proper vesting requirements.
		However, when ERISA was passed in 1974, certain amendments were made in conference that were not debated on the floor of either the House or the Senate.
	www.pillsburylevinson.com /rights/erisa_litigation.html (1448 words)

	Investment Advisor ERISA Bonds- Insurance for the real or personal property valuation specialist.
		A little known provision in the ERISA code requires registered investment advisors to maintain an "ERISA" bond for the benefit of ERISA regulated plans such as employee benefit or pension plans, including 401k's, as other fiduciaries may be required to carry.
		ERISA bonds are not the same as, and must be purchased separately from, investment advisor financial institution bonds (Fidelity Bonds).
		ERISA bonds have historically had little exposure, and therefore the underwriting is relatively simple and the pricing reasonable (relative to the professional liability coverages).
	www.tennant.com /p-Erisabond.asp (771 words)

	ERISA
		The ERISA Industry Committee, a lobbying group for large employers and insurance companies, has said, "The power to define legal liability is the power to regulate." (8) Of course, this is why liability appeals to patients.
		ERISA protects employer-provided health plans (known as ERISA plans) from liability for negligent injury to patients under state laws because ERISA prohibits the application of state law in any form, including the common law of torts, to ERISA plans if the law "relates to" an ERISA plan.
		Thus, as a general rule, an ERISA plan and an organization that administers the plan on behalf of the employer cannot be sued under state law by a patient claiming that the ERISA plan or the administrator was negligent in administering the terms of the plan.
	pw2.netcom.com /~mvp1/ERISA.html (3239 words)

	ERISA Liability for CPAs
		ERISA broadly defines the term fiduciary”; to include people with discretionary authority or control over plan assets or plan administration and people who render investment advice for a fee.
		Second, section 406 of ERISA forbids a fiduciary from causing a plan to engage in certain “prohibited transactions” with a “party in interest.” Prohibited transactions are per se violations of ERISA, regardless of whether they otherwise satisfy the fiduciary duties of section 404, or even if they are favorable for the plan.
		An ERISA specialist may be able to quickly determine whether the transaction involves ERISA rules and suggest alternatives that will substantially reduce the risk of liability to the client and to the CPA.
	www.aicpa.org /PUBS/JOFA/dec2000/collins.htm (2861 words)

	ERISA in the United States Code: Cross-reference table, table of contents (detailed)
		When the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA" or "the Act") became law in 1974, it was codified as part of Title 29 of the United States Code.
		For example, the fiduciary duty provisions of ERISA section 404 are found in Title 29 section 1104.
		The following table shows the ERISA sections and their corresponding Title 29 section numbers, as Title 29 was in effect in January of 1999.
	benefitslink.com /erisa/crossreference.html (2520 words)

	Overview
		ERISA is short for the "Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974." It is a federal law which was designed to federalize and unify the field of employee benefits.
		That means that life, medical and disability benefits will (generally) be covered by ERISA even where the "Plan" is just a group insurance policy, and the "ERISA fiduciary" is just the insurance company's claims adjuster.
		ERISA essentially sweeps away state laws which would normally govern whether there was a right to benefits.
	erisa.petti-legal.com (271 words)

	California ERISA Attorneys
		ERISA requires employers to provide detailed descriptions of their benefit plans, and it requires that a percentage of an employee's benefit contribution be vested at a certain point in a worker's employment history at a certain age.
		erisa also requires that pension plans provide survivor's benefits for each qualified worker, and the administrators of these plans must conduct themselves within specific fiduciary criteria.
		ERISA regulates an employee's right to carry-over their benefits from job to job.
	www.lawinfo.com /expert/californiaerisaattorneys (1069 words)

	Lawyer, ERISA, Disability Claims, Medical Claims Denials â“ Salt Lake City, Utah \| Brian S. King
		ERISA is not as clear as it could be about who can and must be included as a defendant when suit is brought under the statute.
		Since ERISA is a statute designed to ensure uniform administration of pension and welfare benefit plans across the country, Congress provided quite a bit of flexibility for both venue, where the case could be filed, and service of process.
		ERISA has a very powerful preemption clause: generally speaking, it wipes out all state laws that conflict with the language of an ERISA plan or the insurance policies under which an ERISA plan is funded.
	www.erisa-claims.com /blog/index.cfm (10620 words)

	ACA Bizdoc :: ERISA
		It includes a specific time frame for filing an appeal, spells out the rights of the plan participants and responsibilities of the plans, and requires the plan to indicate why and on what basis a claim is denied.
		ACA's ERISA educational materials discuss the 2003 rulings and their impact on chiropractic in greater detail.
		If a claim is denied for reasons of medical necessity, doctors and patients have the right to know the identity of the reviewer (who should have appropriate training and experience in the specific health care field involved) and his or her reasons for the denial.
	www.amerchiro.org /membersonly/bizdoc/erisa (480 words)

	State law vs. ERISA
		So, for example, if an insurance company denies a claim for medical treatment, the insured would normally have the right to sue for the benefits, and also for the damages flowing from the claim denial (for example, where the patient dies because she couldn't afford the treatment).
		ERISA remedies are substantially different than what is seen under most state laws, for example:
		And the streamlined nature of an ERISA trial means that you can get a trial date a lot sooner than would normally be the case.
	erisa.petti-legal.com /erisaprimer2_004.htm (419 words)

	Erisa and Disability Benefits Law Blog
		ERISA preemption is based on the following provision: “[e]xcept as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this subchapter … shall supersede any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan” covered by the statute.
		In considering whether state law claims are preempted, this Court should focus on the “objectives of the ERISA statute as a guide to the scope of the state law that Congress understood would survive.” Id.
		Indeed, the objective of the ERISA statute to provide coverage for employees is furthered by application of the state's tort and contract laws here.
	www.erisaontheweb.com (4484 words)

	ERISA
		Our ERISA Group attorneys have extensive experience defending employers, insurers and plan administrators and claims brought by participants and beneficiaries of group plans seeking recovery in the form of benefits, declaratory or injunctive relief, or other damages for alleged breach of fiduciary duties.
		In addition to the more "traditional" ERISA benefit claims, we have also represented clients in more unusual ERISA cases such as those seeking emergency injunctive and declaratory relief in suits to compel coverage for experimental medical treatment.
		The firm has successfully argued several precedent-setting cases in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Illinois Appellate Court dealing with the scope of ERISA preemption, the nature and scope of fiduciary duties, and the role of federal common law in augmenting ERISA’s statutory remedies.
	www.johnsonandbell.com /practice/erisa/Default.htm (189 words)

	ENRON Erisa - Home
		Enron ERISA fraud site which is designed to keep those with Enron 401(k) retirement plans informed about their rights.
		Keller Rohrback's ERISA team is headed by the firm's managing partner Lynn Lincoln Sarko and partner Britt Tinglum.
		The Court, together with the Court overseeing Enron’s bankruptcy, ordered the plaintiffs in the ERISA and securities cases to mediate the settlement of their claims against the investment banks before The Honorable William C. Conner, Senior United States District Judge, Southern District of New York.
	www.enronerisa.com (1464 words)

	[No title]
		Our ERISA litigators have expertise in all areas of ERISA and employee benefits law, and when necessary can consult with other lawyers in the firm who are expert in the areas of tax law, insurance law, securities law, banking and trust law, employment law, and bankruptcy law.
		We have developed an in-house ERISA litigation database containing the full text of all briefs, memo-randa, and seminar materials written by members of the ERISA litigation team.
		ERISA preemption and the scope of the savings clause for laws regulating insurance, banking and securities.
	www.faegre.com /firm_practice_detail.asp?practiceID=16 (1849 words)

	HARP ERISA Page
		For a time, it seemed that one way ERISA might work to the member's advantage, at least in the 9th Circuit, was to prevent plans from forcing "reimbursement" of its payments from damages paid by third party tortfeasors.
		A subrogation claim under an ERISA plan may not be brought under federal law, but the plan's STATE court claims for breach of contract against the enrollee are NOT preempted by ERISA, and may proceed.
		However, One way ERISA may be helpful is: An administrator must provide a member with a copy of the SPD, annual report, bargaining agreement, or instrument establishing the plan, within 30 days of the request for it.
	www.harp.org /erisa.htm (1162 words)

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