Frequently Asked Questions

What is ERISA?

Frank Darras, America’s Top Disability Lawyer, discusses the history, scope and shortcomings of ERISA.

Frank Darras:

“We often hear what is ERISA, Frank? ERISA is the Employment Retirement Income Security Act. It’s been on the books since 1974. And it was originally designed to stop big corporations from stealing the retired people’s pensions or medical benefits. Today it’s applied to every group, medical, life, or disability policy that you get from work, or in most cases, from a voluntary association.”

“My acronym for ERISA, ‘everything rotten invented since Adam’ because it has very few consumer rights or remedies. The only exceptions to ERISA are: if you work for the government, you work for the church, you’re a partner in a partnership and the policy only covers the two partners – that’s it. Otherwise, you’re subject to ERISA.”