January 01, 2025

Business Group on Health Policy Position Statements

Business Group on Health’s position statements on health policy issues impacting employer-sponsored health coverage.

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Issue

Litigation, state and local laws, and groups challenging ERISA preemption in federal policy-making threaten to undermine the foundation of the employer-sponsored system and the uniform, cost-effective administration of employer-sponsored plans.

Position

ERISA and its preemption provisions have been instrumental in establishing a consistent and reliable statutory and regulatory structure for employer plan sponsors for over 50 years. Maintaining ERISA as the primary legal framework for employer-sponsored benefit plans will support efficient plan administration and allow plan sponsors to devote comprehensive and nationally consistent resources to employee benefits and compensation. Therefore, Business Group on Health supports:

• Preserving and strengthening ERISA as the primary law governing employer-sponsored benefit plans.
• ERISA preemption of state and local laws that directly or indirectly interfere with or impose costs on the administration of employer-sponsored benefit plans.
• Maintaining plan sponsors’ ability and flexibility to design employee benefit plans to suit the needs of their business and employee populations.
• Evidence-based standards for high-quality and cost-effective health care rather than benefit mandates.
• Uniform, evidence-based national standards for any legally mandated benefits, health information technology, privacy protection, and provider licensure requirements that affect employer-sponsored benefit plans.
• Employer plan sponsors’ ability to preserve and expand access to medical services for all populations within their workforce.
• Preserving federal jurisdiction over cases involving employer-sponsored benefit plans.
• Medical malpractice reform that reduces incentives for defensive medicine, curbs frivolous litigation, and places reasonable limits on damages.

WHY IT MATTERS

• According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), more than 155 million Americans rely on and value employer-sponsored health coverage.
• Protecting ERISA preemption is employers’ highest priority for the Administration and Congress, according to Business Group on Health’s 2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey. Employers overwhelmingly agree that ERISA preemption is important to the delivery and affordability of their health plans, with 90% of employers reporting that it is very important or important to them.
• Employers continue to tailor benefits and programs to the needs of their entire workforce. According to the 2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey, 85% of employers are currently or planning to enhance their health and well-being offerings and provide more personalized benefits through at least one form of health and well-being program. To address affordability and access, 83% of employers committed to adopting at least one major strategy by 2025, including designing pharmacy benefits that remove cost barriers for generics and preventive medications and introducing health plans with lower deductibles. ERISA preemption enables employers to deliver on these approaches in a comprehensive and nationally consistent manner.

More Topics

Resource Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)