The National Coalition on Benefits (NCB) is dedicated to working with Congress to maintain employers' ability to provide uniform health and retirement benefits to employees and retirees across state and local lines and to ensure that federal health reform initiatives preserve Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) benefits.

Don't Erode What Works to Fix What's Broken

Over a hundred million Americans have health, retirement and other valuable benefits voluntarily provided by their employer under a nationally uniform framework established by the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The central element of the ERISA framework is that employers can maintain uniform national benefit plans because ERISA preempts states from imposing regulations on employer-sponsored benefit plans.  Because of national uniformity under ERISA, employers are able to provide the same benefits on a nationwide basis, regulated by the federal Department of Labor. Employees benefit through lower costs sharing, comprehensive plans, and the ability to keep the same health care benefits even if they transfer to another of their employer's facilities in another state.

This law is being threatened via proposed waivers that would prohibit preemption of state laws and open the door to liability actions against employers and health plans or permit state regulation in specific areas.  Some proponents have gone so far as to propose that the health care provisions of ERISA be entirely repealed.  The NCB strongly supports ERISA as the very backbone of the employer-based health care system and opposes efforts to undercut ERISA through waivers or expansion of liability.  Specifically, the NCB supports the following principles:

• ERISA's federal framework must be maintained.
• Employers' ability to offer and maintain uniform benefit plans across state and local lines must be preserved.
• Employers must continue to have the flexibility to determine how to best meet the needs of their employees and retirees.
• Reforms to the current health and retirement benefits system must continue ERISA's goals of promoting simplicity and predictability.
• Federal initiatives should not permit states to adversely impact ERISA.

Mission:  To work with Congress to maintain employers' ability to provide uniform health and retirement benefits to employees and retirees across state and local lines and to ensure that federal health reform initiatives preserve ERISA benefits.

National Coalition on Benefits Steering Committee

Chairman - Martin Reiser, Xerox Corporation (www.xerox.com)

Associations:
American Benefits Council (www.americanbenefitscouncil.org)
Business Roundtable (www.businessroundtable.org)
The ERISA Industry Committee (www.eric.org)
National Association of Manufacturers (www.nam.org)
National Business Group on Health (www.businessgrouphealth.org)
National Retail Federation (www.nrf.org)  
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (www.nreca.org)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce (www.uschamber.com)

Companies:
AT&T (www.att.com)
Caterpillar (www.cat.com)
Dow Chemical (www.dow.com)
Kodak (www.kodak.com)
UPS (www.ups.com)
Verizon (www.verizon.com)

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