What is 'ERISA'?

What is 'ERISA'?

"ERISA" is the Employee Retirement Insurance Savings Act of 1974. Bottom line, it was designed to regulate pension companies, and force a person who lost their pension to be able to sue only for the dollar value of their pension. The unfortunate thing is that we gave the law unintended consequences, so that in the '80s the health insurance companies said "hey we are a benefit too." So if there is a dispute between the insurance company and the patient, the patient should only be able to sue for the treatment denied. So how that plays out is, if you're denied a heart surgery, and you are the bread-earner in your family, and your family looses you and looses your income, they can only sue for the $20,000 surgery that was denied you, not for your lost wages, not for the loss that your children no longer have you. That again became a moat around the insurance company castle, that protects them all the time to the detriment of the insurer. It is also a license to steal from the insurer who's sick, who needs care, because there is no way to hold them accountable.