<nobr>Sep 1, 2009</nobr>

ERIC's New Benefit Platform Featured in GAO Report on Alternative Approaches to Current U.S. Pension System

Washington, D.C. -- ERIC's New Benefit Platform for Life Security was among four pension reform proposals recently reported by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzing key pension design alternatives that could be used to mitigate the risks faced by workers in accumulating and preserving benefits.

The report was prepared at the request of House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), who is concerned about the risks faced by U.S. workers in accumulating and preserving pension benefits.

ERIC President Mark Ugoretz said that, "pension reform is very high on the agenda in 2010. Many policymakers are concerned over the impact of the 2006 Pension Protection Act and the recent recession on the ability of workers to secure their retirement. While it's not clear what direction they will take, ERIC's 2007 New Benefit Platform for Life Security points to a new direction in solid retirement security."

ERIC's New Benefit Platform for Life Security released June 2007 calls for a new way of thinking on how life security benefits are delivered to all Americans. It proposes a new structure for providing benefits through independent "Benefit Administrators" who would offer both retirement and health security benefits, competing in the private marketplace based on the creation of large pools, market efficiencies, quality, information technology, plan design and cost. Each Benefit Administrator would be required to offer plans for a core set of "lifetime security" benefits -- retirement, health, and short-term savings. Unlike the current system, ERIC's platform permits the benefits to stay where they are regardless of job changes. By creating large pools, the plan would offer the same or greater economies of scale to all Americans that large employers are able to offer to their employees.

Ugoretz said that, "ERIC's proposal is designed to spark new thinking and would permit us all to do what Americans do best: create and innovate."

"Because the benefit security needs of all Americans is a troubling issue of increasing importance to employers and to society as a whole, we created a design that took the best of the current system and developed an entirely new platform that would maximize the opportunity for life security for all Americans," Ugoretz added.

Links to the GAO report and New Benefit Platform appear below.

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For more information:
Ted Godbout
Manager, Communications
The ERISA Industry Committee
1400 L Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 789-1400
Fax: (202) 789-1120
tgodbout@eric.org
www.eric.org

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The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is a non-profit association committed to representing the advancement of the employee retirement, health, and compensation plans of America's largest employers. ERIC's members provide benchmark retirement, health care coverage, compensation, and other economic security benefits directly to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. ERIC has a strong interest in proposals affecting its members' ability to deliver those benefits, their cost and their effectiveness, as well as the role of those benefits in the American economy.

Websites:

GAO Report

ERIC's New Benefit Platform for Life Security

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