I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1322
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
to provide emergency protection for retiree health benefits. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2003
Mr. TIERNEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. OBERSTAR, 
Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. 
ABERCROMBIE, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. GEORGE MILLER 
of California, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Is-
land, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 to provide emergency protection for 
retiree health benefits.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Retiree 
Health Benefits Protection Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Retired participants of group health plans 
regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Secu-
rity Act of 1974 (ERISA) have been severely 
harmed by the virtually unchecked practices of spon-
sors of such plans involving the post-retirement can-
cellation or reduction of health benefits which retir-
ees counted on receiving for their lifetimes. 
(2) Such widespread post-retirement reductions 
in retiree health benefits has led to a crisis in retiree 
health care in which retirees—
(A) have been unable to substitute indi-
vidual coverage for the group coverage they 
lost, or, in order to obtain individual coverage, 
have jeopardized their economic security in re-
tirement; 
(B) because of preexisting medical condi-
tions cannot obtain substitute coverage that 
they can afford without depleting their life sav-
ings or have been unable to obtain adequate 
medical care or medical care they had relied on 
to deal with serious illness; 
(C) have sustained catastrophic illnesses or 
injuries or otherwise experienced a marked de-
terioration in their medical conditions or health
as a result of post-retirement changes to their 
medical benefits; 
(D) have been transferred indiscriminately 
into improperly or inadequately managed health 
maintenance organizations or other managed 
care entities, resulting in the worsening rather 
than improvement of prior medical conditions; 
and 
(E) in many instances, have failed to ob-
tain adequate relief in the courts due to highly 
restrictive judicial interpretations which are in-
consistent with ERISA’s underlying protective 
purposes. 
(3) The crisis in retirees healthcare generated 
by the plan sponsor practice of post-retirement can-
cellations or reductions of previously promised re-
tiree health benefits has led to a widespread loss of 
confidence in the integrity of ERISA-regulated 
group health plans and the ability of ERISA itself 
to adequately protect retiree health benefits. 
(4) A strong and dependable private sector re-
tiree health system is necessary to the essential 
health of our Nation’s senior citizens. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to en-
sure that the reasonable health benefit expectations of re-
tirees from ERISA-regulated group health plans are ful-
filled, to minimize the incidence of prolonged legal dis-
putes arising out of the post-retirement cancellation or re-
duction of retiree health benefits from such plans, and to 
prevent further adverse effects on retiree health arising 
from such post-retirement changes. To this end, the pur-
poses of this Act also include the following: 
(1) to safeguard retired participants of group 
health plans subject to the Employee Retirement In-
come Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) 
from loss or reduction of their health benefits from 
such plans by barring plan sponsors from canceling 
or reducing such benefits after the dates such par-
ticipants retire and when they no longer are able to 
absorb such losses or reductions without experi-
encing adverse effects on their health or finances; 
(2) to establish an enforceable obligation on the 
part of sponsors of such group health plans to re-
store health benefits previously taken away from re-
tired participants of such plans to the extent such 
benefits were canceled or altered after the dates 
such participants retired and the plan sponsor would 
not sustain substantial business hardship by restor-
ing such benefits; and
(3) to establish an Emergency Retiree Health 
Loan Guarantee Program to assist sponsors of 
group health plans subject to the obligation to re-
store retiree health benefits under this Act to obtain 
credit to assist them in discharging such obligations 
by providing retiree health loan guarantees that 
would encourage the availability of such credit. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME 
SECURITY ACT OF 1974 TO PROVIDE RETIREE 
HEALTH BENEFIT PROTECTIONS IN GROUP 
HEALTH PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title I of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is amend-
ed by adding at the end a new part 8 as follows:
‘‘PART 8—EMERGENCY RETIREE HEALTH 
BENEFIT PROTECTIONS 
‘‘SEC. 801. PROHIBITION AGAINST POST-RETIREMENT RE-
DUCTIONS OF RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS 
BY GROUP HEALTH PLANS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding that a group 
health plan described in subsection (b) may contain a pro-
vision reserving the general power to amend or terminate 
the plan or a provision specifically authorizing the plan 
to make post-retirement reductions in retiree health bene-
fits, it shall be prohibited for any group health plan,
whether through amendment or otherwise, to reduce the 
benefits provided to a retired participant or his or her ben-
eficiary under the terms of the plan if such reduction of 
benefits occurs after the date the participant retired for 
purposes of the plan and reduces benefits that were pro-
vided to the participant, or his or her beneficiary, as of 
the date the participant retired. Any group health plan 
provision which purports to authorize the reduction of 
benefits in a manner inconsistent with the foregoing prohi-
bition shall be void as against public policy. 
‘‘(b) GROUP
HEALTH
PLAN.—The term ‘group 
health plan’ shall have the same meaning as in section 
607(1). 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITED REDUCTION
OF BENEFITS.—As 
used in this section, references to a prohibited reduction 
of benefits means any group health plan amendment or 
other action which has the effect of—
‘‘(1) canceling, decreasing or limiting the 
amount, type, level, or form of any benefit or option 
provided prior to the amendment or action; 
‘‘(2) imposing or increasing the out-of-pocket 
costs a retired participant, or his or her beneficiary, 
must pay in order to keep or obtain any benefits 
that were provided to the participant or beneficiary 
prior to the amendment or action; or