Newsletters

Whistleblower Protection for Federal Government Employees

Background

Volunteers and the Fair Labor Standards Act

Background

The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) was passed to regulate employee benefit plans, including employer-sponsored group health plans. In 1998, an amendment to ERISA was passed called the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act (WHCRA), which applies to individual health plans as well as to employer-sponsored group health plans. The WHCRA establishes rights for women who are covered under health plans that cover mastectomies. It is important to note that the WHCRA does not require health plans to provide coverage for mastectomy; rather, it imposes requirements on plans that do offer such coverage.

Unemployment Insurance -- Financing -- Solvency Provisions

In deciding how to fund their unemployment insurance programs, states must choose between two primary funding strategies. The first is known as forward funding and relies upon a sizeable fund maintained by fixed taxes on employer payrolls. The second, often referred to as pay-as-you-go funding, involves fixed taxes as well. With pay-as-you-go funding, however, both the taxes and the balance of the fund are generally lower and rely on adjustments in times of high need.

Unemployment Insurance -- Financing -- Reserve Funds

A recent trend in the management of state unemployment insurance programs is the establishment of special accounts known as reserve funds. Reserve funds are the product of the desire to expand the services offered by state unemployment insurance programs as well as the long-term financial stability that some state unemployment accounts enjoy. The result is a cost-effective and low-risk way of improving the lives and the prospects of those individuals facing unemployment.