Law Commons^™

Erisa Preemption And Indirect Regulation Of Employee Welfare Plans Through State Insurance Laws, Leslie Levin

Faculty Articles and Papers

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), enacted to correct widespread abuses in the area of employee benefit plans, imposes federal minimum standards for plan reporting and disclosure, vesting, funding, and fiduciary responsibilities. To ensure national uniformity, section 514 preempts state laws that "relate to" employee benefit plans. Since ERISA affects many areas traditionally governed by state law, the extent to which states may continue to regulate certain activities whenever such regulation "relate[s] to" employee benefit plans has been the subject of much litigation.