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MEMBERSHIP
Decisions made in Washington, DC affect companies of all shapes and sizes. The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is the only organization dedicated exclusively to representing the employee benefits and compensation interests of America’s major employers. Other business interests – consultants, insurers, banks, small and medium sized business – are already well represented. Since 1976, ERIC has been preeminent in its effective lobbying and advocacy work in the Nation’s Capital on behalf of its members.
As a member, you are encouraged to participate on ERIC’s Board of Directors, which is charged with the primary responsibility of setting ERIC’s agenda and program of work. As a membership driven organization, ERIC encourages your benefits colleagues to participate on ERIC’s committees.
ERIC advocates with you and for you. ERIC membership is your most valuable and cost effective means of assuring that your voice is clearly heard and that your interests are advocated on complex employee benefit issues that increasingly affect your bottom line. For many companies, we are their principal voice on complex employee benefits issues in Washington and we reinforce the efforts of Washington representatives. Our mobilization and leadership of coalitions extends that influence even further on both retirement and health care issues. The unified voice of ERIC’s members on Capitol Hill and within key regulatory agencies ensures your interests are covered as major legislation and regulations move toward becoming law.
Over the next year, employers will face dramatic new challenges to their benefit plans. With polls showing the economy, health care and a secure retirement as American’s top domestic concerns, an upcoming presidential election and a campaign already underway, there is no question that employee benefits and compensation is front and center on the “reform” agenda. And, there is no question but that the next Administration and Congress will look to enact major health and pension reforms. Moreover, Members of Congress increasingly are tempted to see these issues as pitting their constituents against their employers, particularly for those employers who are looking to change their plans to meet new competitive demands.
From Congress, to the courts, to the regulatory agencies, ERIC is engaged on all fronts. We are recommending proposals for Pension Protection Act regulations, seeking to ensure a favorable legal and regulatory climate for hybrid plans, assisting in battling 401(k) fee lawsuits, protecting new attacks on ERISA preemption, and fending off proposals to determine or limit executive compensation.
On the health care front, we are pushing for greater disclosure and transparency to improve quality and reduce costs. ERIC has taken a leadership role on improving health information technology to make certain that it meets the needs of employers by enhancing quality medical care and reversing medical cost inflation.
ERIC is working to secure approval of a Patient Centered Medical Home Model to provide for improved access to care, better engagement of patients in managing their care, superior clinical information systems, and improved accountability. We are working to ensure that Congress does not erode ERISA preemption provisions by providing States with ERISA waivers for a patchwork of health care reforms. We also are seeking to provide the Food and Drug Administration with authority to approve generic biological medicines and to ensure that the Medicare prescription drug program continues to work well for employers.
We also are excited about the reception we have received in meetings with key stakeholders as well as Members of Congress about interest in ERIC’s New Benefit Platform for Life Security. These are just some examples of the many issues ERIC worked on in 2007, and will continue to work on in 2008.
Leadership opportunities are abound for ERIC members including participation on the Board of Directors, committees, task forces, and membership meetings. Collaboration and influence on legislation and regulations is only half the story: ERIC also provides the opportunity for individual collaboration with your major employer peers in other companies on issues with which you are dealing. Joining ERIC and taking advantage of available leadership and peer collaboration opportunities protects your company’s interests on a daily basis.
All ERIC member companies are entitled to a seat on ERIC’s Board of Directors. This provides you with an opportunity to actively engage in the policy debate surrounding benefits and to take a leading role in establishing benefits policies that facilitate your company’s needs. ERIC membership also provides an expanse of corporate and congressional knowledge through membership in its committees in the areas of Retirement Security, Health Policy, and Legal and Fiduciary Responsibility. ERIC also routinely develops task forces for its members on hot issues such as pension funding and accounting, defined contribution plan issues, and retiree health.
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RESOURCES
ERIC's highly regarded FocusOn conference calls provide you with the opportunity to hear about and discuss the latest employee benefit topics. ERIC's broad membership and specialized topic conferences, including health, defined contribution, and legal conferences are an opportunity to not only meet with important policy experts, but with your peers in other companies for new ideas, resources, and opportunities.
The ERIC Legal Conference brings together ERIC members and government officials to discuss employer concerns regarding nonqualified deferred compensation, fiduciary responsibility, attorney-client privilege, and in-house benefits litigation. It also is an opportunity for ERIC members to share best practices and successful approaches to a number of benefits issues during closed-door, roundtable discussions designed to give ERIC members "take-away" information to be applied to their companies’ benefits practice.
ERIC's Health Policy Conference brings together ERIC members, congressional staff, senior administration officials, and leading experts to discuss cutting-edge strategies for containing runaway healthcare costs, while improving the quality and efficiency of care. The conference also addresses long-term policy solutions designed to shape the design and provision of employee healthcare benefits.
The ERIC New Directions in Benefits: Finding the Path Forward watershed conference brought nearly 130 benefits professionals from America's major employers together for a detailed discussion of ERIC's proposed New Benefit Platform for Life Security. The New Benefit Platform seeks to rationalize the relationship between employers and employees in health and retirement benefits, while expanding access to those outside of the traditional employment system. Conference attendees discussed the next steps that ERIC and its members need to take so that the Platform becomes an option for effective benefits delivery. Additionally, the conference provided exceptional opportunities to discuss traditional concerns with defined contribution plans, including enrollment and participation concerns, global benefit coordination, employer stock, retiree health savings, stream-of-payment options, and investment advice.
Membership with ERIC gets you access to many highly praised resources, including the ERIC Executive Report, which is our weekly newsletter containing updates on Capitol Hill action and the latest regulatory developments. It also includes access to ERIC OnLine where you will find such helpful resources as ERIC position papers, comment letters, and legislative analyses -- all highly regarded by members of Congress and regulatory agencies for their accuracy and timeliness. ERIC’s Briefing Books cover every topical major employee benefit issue, including nonqualified deferred compensation, fiduciary liability, and retiree health care.
The resources ERIC provides its members are the best in the industry. Twice-monthly engaging conference calls, ERIC’s briefing books, position papers, comment letters, and reporting and analysis on proposed legislation through daily communiqués and ERIC’s members-only website, all provide crucial ‘in-the-beltway’ benefits and compensation information major employers need to know to run their businesses effectively.
ERIC also is an information clearinghouse for its members by providing peer-to-peer communications. ERIC members may find resolutions to problems once had by other ERIC members. Whether it is through committee conference calls, specialized FocusOn calls, ERIC’s specialized conferences, or daily contact with ERIC staff, members know they can rely on ERIC to help find useful solutions.
ERIC membership is your most valuable and cost effective means of assuring that your voice—and the voice of other major-employers—is clearly heard. ERIC is prepared, with your active participation, to meet the clear, present, and difficult challenges that lie ahead.
To learn more about ERIC and how it can help your organization, please contact the staff below:
Mark Ugoretz, President |
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