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Law and Medicine
JAMA. 1993;269(19):2527-2532. doi: 10.1001/jama.1993.03500190071038

What's Wrong With the ERISA Vacuum?

Employers' Freedom to Limit Health Care Coverage Provided by Risk Retention Plans

  1. Lawrence O. Gostin, JD;
  2. Alan I. Widiss, LLB, LLM
  1. From the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, Boston, Mass (Mr Gostin), and University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City (Mr Widiss).

Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.

Excerpt

THROUGHOUT the political campaigns waged during 1992, health care for Americans was one of the major issues. Candidates repeatedly expressed concern for the 30 to 65 million individuals who are not insured or who have inadequate coverage for their health care needs.1 Ironically, as the fall election campaigns were concluding, the Supreme Court of the United States was deliberating on whether to hear an appeal from a decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals2 that may result in more individuals being cast into the ranks of the uninsured or inadequately insured. Just a few days after Americans elected a presidential candidate committed to providing universal health care, the Supreme Court—with two justices dissenting—decided not to accept an appeal,2,3 by the executor of the estate of John McGann, from the lower court judgment, which allowed an employer to reduce health care benefits radically for one of its

Footnotes

  • Reprint requests to the Office of the Executive Director, American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, 765 Commonwealth Ave, 16th Floor, Boston, MA 02215 (Mr Gostin).

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