ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. ERISA is a federal law that sets minimum standards for retirement and health benefit plans in private industry. ERISA does not require any employer to establish a plan. It only requires that those who establish plans must meet certain minimum standards.
ERISA covers retirement, health, and other welfare benefit plans (e.g., life, disability and apprenticeship plans). Among other things, ERISA provides that those individuals who manage plans (and other fiduciaries) must meet certain standards of conduct. The law also contains detailed provisions for reporting to the government and disclosure to participants. There also are provisions aimed at assuring that plan funds are protected and that participants who qualify receive their benefits.
Because ERISA is a federal law, and your employee benefits plan is governed by it, any dispute you have with your long-term disability insurer will be heard in federal court and not by your local state court.
