Glad fiftieth, ERISA – KFF Well being Information

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Julie Rovner
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Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health Information’ weekly Health coverage information podcast, “What the Health?” A famous knowledgeable on Health coverage points, Julie is the writer of the critically praised reference e book “Health Care Politics and Coverage A to Z,” now in its third version.

On September 2, 1974, President Gerald Ford signed into legislation the Worker Retirement Earnings Safety Act, higher often known as ERISA. Whereas the legislation was primarily supposed to control and defend employee pensions, IT additionally basically modified how Health insurance coverage is supplied and controlled in the US. Fifty years on, ERISA performs a task in practically each element of Health insurance coverage and has had a profound impression on your complete Health Care sector.

To notice this anniversary, on this week’s particular episode of KFF Health Information’ “What the Health?”, host and KFF Health Information chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discusses the legislation’s previous, current, and future with three specialists on ERISA: Larry Levitt of KFF, a Health Information nonprofit that features KFF Health Information; Paul Fronstin of the Worker Profit Analysis Institute, a nonprofit; and Ilyse Schuman of the American Advantages Council, a commerce group advocating for employers that sponsor employee profit plans.

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Transcript: Glad fiftieth, ERISA

KFF Health Information’ ‘What the Health?’ Episode Title: ‘Glad fiftieth, ERISA’ Episode Quantity: 360Revealed: Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024

[Editor’s note: This transcript was generated using both transcription software and a human’s light touch. IT has been edited for style and clarity.] 

Julie Rovner: Hey, and welcome again to “What the Health?” I’m Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health Information. Often, I’m joined by a number of the greatest and smartest Health reporters in Washington, however immediately, we have now a particular episode for you. We’re taping this week on Monday, Aug. twelfth, at 2 p.m. As all the time, information occurs quick, and issues may’ve modified by the point you hear this — though this time, I hope not. So right here we go.

So if you happen to observe Health coverage, you’re seemingly conversant in the massive federal legal guidelines which have formed how Health Care within the U.S. is organized and delivered and paid for. Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, HIPAA in 1996, and the Reasonably priced Care Act in 2010, simply to call a number of.

One you could not have heard as a lot about is ERISA, the Worker Retirement Earnings Safety Act, which was signed in 1974 by then-President Gerald Ford. This fall marks 50 years since ERISA grew to become legislation. ERISA, as its identify suggests, is generally about defending pension advantages for employees. IT was impressed, at the very least partly, by the collapse of a pension fund when a plant that constructed Studebaker vehicles in Ohio shut down in 1963. However, at the very least as legend has IT, on the final minute within the Home-Senate Convention in 1974, somebody determined so as to add Health advantages to ERISA’s scope, and that actually modified the whole thing of how Health advantages are regulated within the U.S.

I’m happy to have an all-star panel right here to hitch us to speak about what ERISA has meant to Health coverage and what IT’s more likely to imply going ahead as IT begins its second half-century. Larry Levitt is govt vp for coverage right here at KFF and one in all only some individuals within the group even nerdier than I’m about issues like ERISA. Paul Fronstin is director of Health advantages analysis on the Worker Profit Analysis Institute, a nonpartisan assume tank that does analysis and training. Paul has additionally taught me extra about ERISA through the years than most likely another single particular person.

Lastly, Ilyse Schuman is senior vp of the American Advantages Council, which represents massive employers and different suppliers of Health and retirement advantages by means of employer-sponsored plans. Ilyse additionally spent a number of years on Capitol Hill engaged on the Senate committee that oversees ERISA coverage. So, a number of data right here in our podcast field. Thanks for all of you for being right here.

Ilyse Schuman: Thanks

Larry Levitt: Nice to be right here.

Rovner: So let’s begin firstly. How did Health advantages wind up being lined in a legislation that was geared toward retiree pensions?

Paul Fronstin: None of us had been right here or there on the time, so I feel something we all know is second- or third-hand Information. And such as you mentioned, the supply was inserted on the final minute, however I feel there have been a number of conversations about IT main as much as IT being inserted on the final minute. I feel a number of IT needed to do with some tensions between state regulation and federal regulation, as a result of there have been self-insured Health plans in existence and self-insured advantages extra usually in existence earlier than ERISA handed.

And clearly these plans wished some federal safety concerning what they had been doing, and the states wished extra regulation. And I’ve learn just a little bit about this through the years, and there was definitely some lobbying for and towards having a provision in there to guard self-insured plans from state regulation. So the conversations had been taking place. IT simply … the language most likely simply didn’t make IT into the laws until the final minute.

Schuman: And I feel definitely the panorama again in 1974, as Paul talked about, was that an increasing number of states had been creating, with respect to Health Care, their very own variations of varied legal guidelines. And so self-funded plans, massive employers like our members — quite a lot of them had been again in existence 50 years in the past, some weren’t — had been discovering IT more and more troublesome to have the ability to administer their self-funded plans on a uniform foundation nationwide.

So IT wasn’t within the backrooms after they had been really drafting the laws, however definitely notice that the nationwide panorama on this rising patchwork of state Health legal guidelines was turning into more and more problematical for self-funded Health plans.

Levitt: Yeah. I imply, this was additionally a interval when Health insurance coverage was altering fairly dramatically. I imply, earlier than this time Health insurance coverage was fairly easy. IT was known as indemnity insurance coverage, proper.

You went to the physician, you went to the hospital, you bought a declare, you filed IT along with your insurance coverage firm, they usually paid 80% of IT. This was a time when PPOs [preferred provider organizations] had been beginning, managed care, HMOs had been actually simply getting their begin. So there was a necessity for way more regulation as a result of insurance coverage was getting extra sophisticated.

Fronstin: Yeah. To a point, the HMO Act of, what, 1973, proper, simply the 12 months earlier than. So HMOs had been simply approaching the scene, and that will have performed into this as nicely.

Rovner: So again in 1945, when actually none of us had been within the room, Congress handed one thing known as the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which was supposed to make sure that states reasonably than the federal authorities retained the authority to control insurance coverage. What occurred in ERISA to vary that? Ilyse, I feel you had been already kind of referring to this. And what will we imply once we speak about ERISA preemption? That’s a phrase that folks hear loads and their eyes glaze over.

Schuman: Certain. Nicely, their eyes might glaze over however IT actually is foundational to thousands and thousands of Individuals and their households which might be lined by employers who resolve that they need to self-fund their plans. That implies that they’re those that resolve that, “Hey, we’re going to take the chance as providing these advantages as an alternative of the service.”

Rovner: In order that they’re not really shopping for insurance coverage as a result of …

Schuman: That’s …

Rovner: … they’re paying the payments.

Schuman: They’re doing extra than simply paying the invoice. They’re those which might be in the end assuming the dangers of these claims, too. And I feel the worth. So perhaps — simply to step again earlier than we speak about what a preemption is — is what we speak about employers who resolve to self-fund versus those who don’t. Admittedly, lots of those who self-fund are bigger employers, however once more, they are saying that “We are going to take the chance of paying for the claims of our Health insurance coverage protection as an alternative of the service. However together with that, we get the pliability and we get the flexibility to design and implement Health protection that we predict meets the wants of our inhabitants. That’s enabled us to” — talking once more from self-funded employers — “to implement modern designs with the assurances that they may implement these, they may administer that on a uniform foundation nationwide.” In order that’s actually what we’re speaking about. Preemption is the flexibility of self-funded employers to manage these advantages on a uniform foundation nationwide.

And sure, getting again to McCarran-Ferguson, and if you wish to speak by means of the kind of varied layers of ERISA preemption, is there’s one thing known as the financial savings clause, which is OK. So ERISA says: “First threshold stage, we’re going to preempt state legal guidelines.” However there’s a financial savings provision that claims mainly: “If you happen to’re within the enterprise of insurance coverage, states can regulate that.” However then there’s this deemer clause — that is actually nerdy now, so a few of your viewers could also be questioning right here what we’re speaking about …

Rovner: I bear in mind studying this many, a few years in the past.

Schuman: No. Yeah. So if you happen to’re in legislation faculty, take notice that the deemer clause implies that self-funded group Health plan is deemed to not be within the enterprise of insurance coverage; which means that they don’t need to adjust to these state insurance coverage legal guidelines.

Levitt: And right here’s the place this will get actually tangible for individuals, proper? So 150 million individuals have insurance coverage protection by means of an employer. IT’s the largest supply of Health protection. However 65% of them are in self-insured plans, like Ilyse was speaking about. And people self-insured plans are exempt from state regulation.

So if a state is regulating insurance coverage, let’s say mandating advantages, mandating protection of IVF, mandating protection of preventive care, mastectomies, no matter — these rules that states are putting in don’t apply to most individuals with employer-sponsored insurance coverage as a result of they’re in these self-funded plans.

Rovner: And, in fact, the persevering with issues that lots of people who’re in these self-funded plans don’t know IT as a result of they’ve an insurance coverage card and IT says Blue Cross or Aetna or no matter, as a result of, of their case, they’ve an insurance coverage card, however the insurer just isn’t offering insurance coverage, proper?

Levitt: No, IT’s outstanding. We did a survey of customers about their experiences with Health insurance coverage. And we requested them, “What authorities company do you assume you’ll flip to with an issue along with your insurance coverage?” And actually zero individuals mentioned the Division of Labor, which is the federal government company that truly enforces ERISA.

Rovner: However I assume what I used to be asking about are third-party directors, which I feel most individuals have by no means heard of till they uncover that they’re not topic to their state’s requirement.

Levitt: Completely. I imply, IT will get actually complicated, proper? As a result of IT could be that UnitedHealthcare is administering this self-funded plan, however you, as an worker on this plan, don’t have any manner of actually understanding is {that a} self-insured plan administered by UnitedHealthcare? Or is that an insurance coverage plan administered by UnitedHealthcare? After which there are these third-party directors that you simply’ve by no means even heard of which might be administering them for a lot of employers.

Rovner: Paul, you wished so as to add one thing.

Fronstin: We have to distinguish between ERISA and self-insured plans, proper, as a result of they’re not one and the identical. ERISA additionally covers totally insured plans.

Schuman: Proper.

Fronstin: So totally insured plans are regulated each by ERISA and on the state stage. And then you definately’ve received some self-insured plans like authorities plans that aren’t lined by ERISA, proper? However they’re self-insured. So IT’s much more sophisticated than what we’re making IT out to be once we speak about ERISA, preemption, and self-insurance. That’s only one side of ERISA.

Schuman: And I feel to the purpose about staff undecided what covers them, what doesn’t cowl them. Once more, for self-funded massive employers, I imply, I feel a lot of the staff perceive from their employer, from the group Health plan, what the phrases of the plan are, and what the advantages are. And I feel in some methods, maybe much less complicated than, OK, if you happen to’re an worker working in Kentucky, you’ve got one plan. If you happen to’re an worker working in New York, you’ve got one other plan. And staff speaking to one another and saying, “Hey, how come you’ve got that and I don’t have this?”

So I feel that the readability or the consistency is essential not only for employers who’re administering the plan, however for workers understanding what the phrases of the plans are. And in addition, two issues about kind of the advantages and what’s lined. There’s a distinction between a state saying, “OK, you must cowl this profit and need to cowl IT in exactly this fashion” versus employers who say, “Look, IT’s actually essential for our inhabitants, to be wholesome and productive, to have these advantages, and so we’re going to supply this profit. We’re simply going to do IT in the identical manner nationwide.”

And bear in mind, ERISA, if the federal authorities, as IT has accomplished over the previous, needs to make adjustments to … which might be relevant to group Health plans, IT can amend and has amended ERISA to do this. So the market reforms, for instance, within the Reasonably priced Care Act, had been relevant, and the Public Health Service Act, had been kind of integrated into ERISA. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, for instance, amended ERISA. So IT’s like that’s the lever to make adjustments to ERISA that will probably be relevant to self-funded plans as nicely is on the federal stage.

Rovner: After I was first protecting Congress within the 19… late-Eighties and early-Nineties, you didn’t go there. If you happen to wished to do one thing about Health coverage, you didn’t contact ERISA. I feel lawmakers had been afraid of reopening IT and stepping into every kind of fights. Why did that lastly change?

Levitt: I imply, I feel there was a rising recognition, notably with the Reasonably priced Care Act, that there have been just a few minimal thresholds that Health protection needed to meet to be legit protection. So if you happen to take a look at what the ACA did, and as Ilyse mentioned, these utilized to all employers, all group Health plans by means of the amendments to ERISA.

And these had been issues like no preexisting situation exclusions, protection of preventive providers with no affected person price sharing, no annual on lifetime limits, a cap on out-of-pocket prices. And doubtless the most well-liked provision of the ACA, protection of dependents as much as age 26. There was no approach to attain everybody with insurance coverage with out amending ERISA beneath the Reasonably priced Care Act.

Fronstin: Yeah. However there have been examples, pre-ACA, that affected all plans, or most plans, like psychological Health parity we didn’t point out. Nicely, there’s been a few cases of that. And positively the Clinton Health plan tried this and didn’t succeed within the early Nineties.

Rovner: And HIPAA …

Levitt: I imply …

Rovner: … which was, I assume, the primary main stroll into ERISA since ERISA had been handed.

Levitt: Proper. And even COBRA. The power to proceed your insurance coverage after you permit an employer was an modification to ERISA.

Rovner: That’s proper. And that was in 1986.

Fronstin: Yeah, and even that could possibly be complicated as a result of IT exempts smaller employers, proper. However you bought the mini-COBRA legal guidelines at state stage that have an effect on a few of these employers, however not each state has one.

Rovner: Yeah. And Paul, you had been referring to this. We should always most likely speak about who’s not topic to ERISA as a result of I don’t assume anyone talked about church plans. There’s a rule, after which there’s all these exceptions.

Fronstin: I feel the 2 main classes are church plans, and I’m undecided we also have a good deal with on how many individuals are lined by church plans as a result of a number of them are usually small companies, they usually might not even provide protection. And federal, state, and native authorities. I’m undecided if there’s one other class in there that’s not lined by ERISA. I imagine that the state and native governments have their very own legislation that’s just like ERISA, however IT’s not ERISA.

Schuman: And I feel once we speak about lined by ERISA, definitely IT’s, What does ERISA afford? IT’s not nearly self-funded employers having the ability to provide uniform advantages nationwide. There are essential protections. There are essential disclosure necessities for workers, for contributors which might be included in there which might be relevant to all ERISA plans, self-funded and insured plans, and clearly on the retirement plans, too.

However I simply assume IT’s actually essential that we glance to see the thought behind ERISA was that, sure, there will probably be this uniformity for self-funded plans. However for all ERISA plans, there are these protections and safeguards in there which might be embedded within the legislation for the advantage of contributors.

Rovner: And that’s why you used to get a phone-book-thick, “That is your plan documentation.” Now, IT’s all on-line, and IT’s all in 4-point kind. However that’s the place that comes from, proper? On the requirement that you simply be instructed every thing that your plan covers.

Schuman: Proper. Right.

Rovner: So, Larry, you sort of referred to this earlier. Self-funded ERISA plans are regulated not by the states however by the Division of Labor, which most individuals don’t know. And for a very long time, if you happen to had been injured or somebody died because of being denied care, the one factor that they may get better was the price of the care that was denied. Not any damages for what occurred. When did that lastly change? And has IT lastly modified? What do you do now if you happen to’re injured — you’ll be able to’t go to your state regulatory company?

Levitt: No, there have been some adjustments to that, however enforcement of ERISA continues to be comparatively mild on the administrative stage in comparison with what state insurance coverage departments do. And the Division of Labor simply appears very far-off to individuals in comparison with a state insurance coverage division.

I feel IT’s actually this construction of ERISA that, Julie, you mentioned individuals had been all the time proof against amending in Congress, that has been proof against modification, proper? I imply, this concept that states regulate insurance coverage straight however that states can’t regulate group Health plans beneath ERISA. And that’s had far-reaching Health coverage implications. So states trying to do employer mandates or something that straight impacts these group Health plans, employer Health plans, and that’s perhaps …

Rovner: Additionally, states trying to do single-payer plans, proper?

Levitt: Yeah. No, I imply, single-payer there could be some methods round ERISA by means of single-payer and taxation, however ERISA has been a barrier to state Health reform efforts, for higher or for worse.

Schuman: If perhaps we are able to simply step again 50 years, I feel IT’s … I wrote down this quote from one of many authors of ERISA, particularly on the ERISA preemption, and that was by Rep. John Dent, who was a Democrat from Pennsylvania who recognized the ERISA preemption because the legislation’s crowning achievement.

And he mentioned IT was the crowning achievement as a result of, with out IT, the laws wouldn’t have loved the assist of each labor and administration since IT’s so elementary for the flexibility of multistate employers to sponsor profit plans to employees nationwide. So I feel simply sort of getting again into the minds of the drafters of ERISA, that discount, if you’ll, that grew to become ERISA preemption was actually foundational to the legislation passing.

Rovner: And you would see why IT would make sense. If you happen to work for a nationwide firm and also you get transferred from one state to a different, your insurance coverage shouldn’t change dramatically.

Schuman: Yeah. And I feel fast-forward 50 years, and we’ve received, definitely, post-pandemic or after the pandemic, an more and more cell and distant workforce. And we have now heard repeatedly about how ERISA preemption actually promotes that employee mobility and the flexibility to work out of your home in one other state or to have the ability to switch from one location to a different.

So assume just a little bit if we simply see how the workforce itself has advanced, I feel that ERISA preemption provision might turn into much more essential. And I feel more and more, IT’s not simply massive employers that discover themselves — like nationwide or multistate employers — however as a result of the workforce is extra distant and cell, and needs to be, that an increasing number of employers of multistate employers, too.

Levitt: I’d say we have now more and more seen smaller employers self-funding, and there are some benefits to that, proper? They don’t essentially need to pay premium taxes to states, and they’re exempt from state profit mandates that apply over and above past the Reasonably priced Care Act. I imply, insurers have provide you with very artistic methods of permitting smaller companies to self-fund and avoiding a number of the threat by layering plenty of reinsurance on high of that.

Fronstin: I used to be going to say, together with self-funding comes ease of administration right here. Ilyse, you name IT uniformity of advantages. However I consider employers, they don’t need to offer 50 completely different Health plans in 50 completely different states. And to the diploma you’ve received the states doing one thing — whether or not IT’s a single-payer or one thing wanting that — employers, they simply need to provide everybody the identical profit and make IT as simple as potential to take action.

And my concern is that if they needed to adjust to 50 completely different state legal guidelines to take action or create 50 completely different profit plans, particularly immediately with the ACA assured concern and sponsored protection, you’ll get to the purpose the place if employers didn’t have the flexibility to offer one profit plan throughout all 50 states, they’re not going to do IT anymore, proper? They’ve received … pre-ACA may’ve been completely different, however now they’ve received another the place their staff might get protection in the event that they didn’t provide protection themselves.

Rovner: In order that was all predicted. This enormous motion away from employer-provided protection after the ACA handed was predicted, and IT didn’t occur.

Fronstin: I used to be a kind of individuals predicting IT. Yeah. Earlier than the ACA handed, I used to be a kind of individuals predicting IT. And I feel what occurred is: One, being employers, they nonetheless worth the profit. They nonetheless perceive there are enterprise causes to supply IT, they usually haven’t had a great excuse to do away with IT.

We haven’t had — aside from the recession tied to covid — we haven’t had a recession. Our unemployment fee has been at traditionally low charges. And I feel employers, they don’t need to mess with one thing that’s working for essentially the most half as a result of they use IT to recruit and retain staff for a similar factor they had been doing again within the Nineteen Forties and ’50s after they first began providing IT.

Schuman: I feel IT’s essential to delineate the employer voice in right here. And I feel perhaps there’s a notion that employers are simply writing the checks or employers and Health plans are sort of conflated. However employers are doing much more than simply writing a test. And I feel these, once more, which have determined to self-fund need to have the ability to have management over how they’re spending their Health Care {dollars}. So once more, they will attempt to drive extra reasonably priced, higher-value, higher-quality Health Care.

And so IT’s not nearly who writes the test, however the causes behind employers saying, “Hey, we’re going to be spending … we spend an entire lot of cash on our Health advantages as a result of we acknowledge that IT’s good enterprise. IT’s good for workers. However we wish to have the ability to have the flexibility to attempt to drive enhancements in that to drive higher-value care.” And in order that’s enabled by ERISA. So the Health reforms and the Health innovation, definitely there’s loads coming from the states, however there’s loads coming from employers, too.

Rovner: So what are the massive points going ahead for ERISA? I imply, clearly, there’s nonetheless, if you happen to Google ERISA, you get every kind of lawsuits and challenges. And I imply, IT’s nonetheless a really full of life a part of the legislation 50 years on.

Levitt: I imply, I feel, Julie, you talked about these lawsuits, and that’s doubtlessly a giant concern going ahead. One thing known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act added some transparency in charges that self-insured employer plans paid to suppliers. And that’s opened the door to some lawsuits difficult whether or not group Health plans, ERISA plans, are performing as applicable fiduciaries in making an attempt to get the bottom prices, notably for pharmaceuticals. And these began out as sort of a fringe motion, however I feel pose some potential dangers for group Health plans.

Rovner: Ilyse, what are employers most involved about?

Schuman: Nicely, I feel that employers seeing the rising variety of states which might be making an attempt to chip away, if not erode in a elementary manner, ERISA preemption is de facto alarming. Quite a lot of these efforts have come up round pharmacy profit managers and efforts to control pharmacy profit managers on the state stage.

However the best way that they’ve accomplished IT, the states have actually taken direct purpose at ERISA preemption and self-funded plans and, I feel, has a lot broader implications for self-funded group Health plans past simply the PBM context. And so I feel that they’re wanting on the rising variety of states which might be all in favour of passing legal guidelines that actually erode ERISA preemption as very alarming.

Rovner: So I need to go across the desk earlier than we finish. Kind of what do you assume has been the largest impression on the Health system of ERISA, each for good and for not so good? I imply, IT’s definitely one of many issues that makes IT so complicated to grasp and clarify. Larry, you need to go first?

Levitt: I feel the largest impression of ERISA has been placing the brakes on some state Health reform efforts. States have discovered methods to get round IT. Some increase some points for employers, like Ilyse was saying, however IT has actually circumscribed what states can do round Health reform. That mentioned, ERISA has supplied a really secure regulatory atmosphere for employers and sure allowed employer protection to develop over time in that atmosphere.

Rovner: Paul?

Fronstin: Yeah, I’d say, along with that, IT’s allowed employers to be modern. Not each self-insured employer has been modern, proper? And there’s one thing like one million employers on the market with a thousand or extra staff. And the smaller of these are usually not essentially being modern, however they’re studying from the most important ones, proper? The jumbo employers, who’re making an attempt to do various things when IT involves partaking the Health system, proper? Partaking hospitals and physicians and pharmaceutical managers.

And I feel that that … the teachings discovered from what they’re doing trickles all the way down to the smaller self-insured employers, and IT trickles out to the Health insurers which might be providing totally insured plans to small employers.

Rovner: Ilyse.

Schuman: I feel ERISA has allowed employers to offer value-driven, complete, reasonably priced, higher-quality Health protection to working households throughout the nation — 150 million, 180 million, guess IT relies upon what stats you’re , and that IT’s withstood the check of time.

And I feel that most likely no stressor, just like the pandemic, the place many questioned what would emerge from that, and with some dents, but in addition with a number of silver linings by way of employers providing advantages to assist their staff navigate by means of the pandemic. And so I feel there’s a resiliency to the employer-sponsored system coupled with the innovation that Paul has talked about.

Rovner: Final query. Sure or no? Is ERISA going to be round in one other 50 years? In different phrases, are we nonetheless going to have this method of Health protection? I promise I can’t maintain you to IT. Simply greatest guess. Larry.

Levitt: I say no.

Rovner: Paul.

Fronstin: I reply “don’t know.”

Rovner:: That’s OK. Ilyse.

Schuman: Nicely, I’ll say that I only in the near past received a tortoise for my household that I’ve discovered will reside 50 or 100 years, so past me. So will ERISA be round so long as Veggie, the tortoise? I don’t know.

I feel that there’s actually an essential inflection level. And I feel if addressing a number of the underlying drivers of rising Health Care prices and consolidation, I feel that if these are addressed, I feel employer-provided protection definitely has the flexibility to face up to the check of time over the subsequent 50 years.

Rovner: Good. Thanks all a lot. This has been nice.

Schuman: Thanks loads.

Levitt: Nice. Thanks, Julie.

Schuman: Thank your workforce.

Levitt: Thanks all.

Schuman: Bye-bye.

Fronstin: Take care, all people.

Levitt: Bye.

Rovner: Bye. OK, that’s our ERISA anniversary present. Huge because of our visitors, Larry Levitt of KFF, Paul Fronstin of EBRI, and Ilyse Schuman of the American Advantages Council. And earlier than we go this week, we’re in search of your assistance on a mission right here at KFF Health Information. Are you a younger grownup confused about navigating the exchanges used to select plans? Have you ever purchased a plan on an ACA change and located that IT didn’t cowl care you wanted? Have you ever married or taken a job simply to get insurance coverage? Did you resolve to go with out protection?

No matter your story, KFF Health Information and The New York Instances need to hear IT. E mail your expertise to Elisabeth Rosenthal — that’s elisabethr with an S, not a Z — @kff.org. As all the time, if you happen to benefit from the podcast, you’ll be able to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We’d recognize IT if you happen to left us a evaluate; that helps different individuals discover us, too. Particular thanks, as ordinary, to our technical guru, Francis Ying, and our editor, Emmarie Huetteman. As all the time, you’ll be able to e-mail us your feedback or questions. We’re at whatthehealth, all one phrase, @kff.org, the place you’ll be able to nonetheless discover me. I’m @jrovner on X. We’ll be again in your feed subsequent week. Till then, be wholesome.

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Francis Ying
Audio producer

Emmarie Huetteman
Editor

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