ERISA is a federal framework for stability in employer health plans. The protections plays a central role in ensuring that healthcare remains accessible and sustainable for millions of working families.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law that governs employer-sponsored benefit plans, including health coverage. For decades, ERISA has provided a consistent national framework that allows employers to offer health benefits across state lines while maintaining stability, predictability, and administrative efficiency.
ERISA plays a central role in ensuring that employer-sponsored healthcare remains accessible and sustainable for millions of working families.
ERISA establishes national standards for employer-sponsored health plans, allowing employers to operate under a single set of rules rather than navigating a patchwork of state regulations.
This framework helps employers:
For employees and their families, ERISA helps support access to stable, employer-sponsored coverage that is not subject to frequent or conflicting regulatory changes.
Many employers, particularly those operating in multiple states, use self-funded health plans governed by ERISA.
In these plans:
Because ERISA governs these plans at the federal level, employers can operate under a single set of rules rather than navigating different requirements in each state.
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Recent legal and legislative developments have begun to reshape how ERISA protections are applied. Changes at the state level are increasingly testing the boundaries between federal oversight and state regulation of employer-sponsored health plans.
MEBA is closely monitoring policies that may:
Changes to ERISA’s longstanding framework can introduce complexity and uncertainty for employers offering health benefits, particularly those operating across multiple states.
When employers face increased regulatory burdens or reduced flexibility, the impact may include higher costs, fewer plan options, or changes to employee coverage structures.
Maintaining a clear and consistent regulatory framework is essential to preserving affordable, employer-sponsored healthcare for Maryland families.
Our focus is on how proposed policies affect employers, working families, and the broader healthcare system.
There are at least 177 million Americans with employer-based health coverage, compared with 120 million with other coverage and 28 million uninsured.
PBMs are one of the primary tools employers use to manage rising prescription drug costs while maintaining broad access to treatments for employees and their families.
ERISA is a federal framework for stability in employer health plans. The protections plays a central role in ensuring that healthcare remains accessible and sustainable for millions of working families.
