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Previous Volume 335:1986-1991 December 26, 1996 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)¹ is the federal law that governs employee-benefit plans offered by private employers and unions. ERISA has long hindered state efforts to expand access to health care, because it prohibits states from requiring all employers to offer benefits to their employees.² States have shifted their attention from seeking universal insurance coverage for health care to regulating the benefits of people who already have health insurance. Reports describing how some managed-care organizations limit the care provided to their enrollees have prompted a rash of legislative efforts intended to protect patients from receiving substandard care.³ . . . [Full Text of this Article]

ERISA's Origins and the Regulatory Vacuum Affecting Health Plans

Limitation of State Laws by ERISA

Mandated-Benefits Laws and Differential Treatment of Health Plans

Any-Willing-Provider Laws

Disclosure Laws

Options for Regulating Managed Care

Conclusions

References

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