Does ERISA Cover Health Insurance? 
Usually when group benefits are involved , ERISA is involved as well . In simplest terms ERISA is simply a `` did you bring gum for everybody '' law . Employees in the same `` class '' must be treated equally when it comes to group benefits where an employer takes a tax deduction . If the employer wants to write off the cost of providing a benefit , they must provide a consistent set of rules that do not exclude employees within a certain class from participating . Simply if you do it for one employee within a class , you do it for all within the class . 