House Seeks Feedback from Employers on ERISA and Health Care System

The House Education and Workforce Committee is seeking input from employers on policies that will strengthen and protect ERISA and the employer-sponsored health care system. The committee is requesting information on how to update and strengthen ERISA and the employer-sponsored system particularly related to industry changes around data sharing, AI, and specialty drugs.

Employer input is essential: In the Request for Information (RFI), Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) stated that “employers have historically been at the forefront of creating innovative, market-driven approaches to providing health benefits, which drive down health care costs…However, health costs continue to rise at unsustainable rates.” Employers are encouraged to respond to the RFI so that lawmakers can promote policies that strengthen ERISA and reduce the number of regulatory barriers employers face when operating benefits plans.

The RFI includes questions on the following topics:

• ERISA preemption
• Fiduciary requirements
• Reporting requirements
• Prohibited transactions
• Data sharing
• Cybersecurity
• COBRA and portability
• Specialty drug coverage

Next steps: HR Policy will be submitting comments to the RFI, due March 15. Please reach out to Margaret Faso at [email protected] if you have insights you would like included in our comments.