ABSTRACT
On Labor Day 1974, President Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) into law (29 U.S.C. §§1001-1046). is law played a signicant role in the restructuring of health care, and made healthcare reform more dicult. e purpose of this chapter is to provide (a) a brief background of the events that led to enactment of the law; (b) an overview of the relationship of ERISA to health-care plans; and (c) a review of some attempts to have the courts remedy impediments to health care that managed care companies constructed by using ERISA as a shield.
