The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, otherwise known as ERISA, is an order that provides protection for health plan participants and their beneficiaries. ERISA Benefits specify when you may be allowed to become a participant, how long you have to work before you have a non-forfeitable interest, and how long you can be away from your job before your benefits are affected. Also stated in this plan is whether or not one spouse is entitled to the other spouse’s pension in the event of his or her death.

Like many health plans, there have been advantageous changes made to ERISA Benefits. These amendments have expanded the protections that are available to the beneficiaries and participants. The first act that was added is COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act. COBRA allows some workers and their families the right to continued health care coverage for a limited amount of time. Instances when COBRA would come into play are untimely events, such as the loss of a job. 

The second change that was made is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. HIPAA provides protection for working Americans and families who have pre-existing medical conditions; this includes those people who have suffered from health-related discrimination with regard to their coverage.

Moreover, the Newborns’ and Mothers’ Health Protection Act and the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act were added to ERISA to benefit new mothers and women in general. 

As great as ERISA Benefits sound, one has to ask, how can I really use them? To begin, you must be at least 21 years old, and you have to have done at least one year of job service. With ERISA, you also have the option of vesting, which is when employees accrue non-forfeitable rights over employer contributions which are made to the employees’ qualified, retirement plan account. There are two basic vesting schedules that an individual can participate in: the Three Year Schedule and the Six Year Graduated Schedule.

Under the Three Year Schedule, workers are 100% vested after three years of service. The Six Year Graduated Schedule, however, takes a little longer to become activated. Workers become 20% vested after two years of service, therefore vesting at a rate of 20% each year until they eventually become 100% vested after six years of service. With cases of separated spouses, the state court can award either a portion or the entirety of a participant’s pension to his or her spouse or child. In order for this action to occur, a person must be issued a qualified domestic relations order, which must already be honored in his or her benefit plan to be active.  

ERISA unfortunately does not cover some individual groups. In the case of large health plans, such as group health ones established by government entities, ERISA does not work. Added to this list are plans from church employees and those only applicable with workers compensation unemployment. Furthermore, ERISA is not valid for plans maintained outside of the United States and those that are solely for the benefit of non-resident aliens.