[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3215 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3215

To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
 to clarify remedies against unauthorized termination or reduction of 
      benefits under group health plans provided upon retirement.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 5, 1993

  Mr. Murphy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
 to clarify remedies against unauthorized termination or reduction of 
      benefits under group health plans provided upon retirement.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Retiree Health Benefits Protection 
Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. TERMINATION OR REDUCTION IN BENEFITS PROVIDED UPON RETIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--Part 6 of subtitle B of title I of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1161 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 610. TERMINATION OR REDUCTION IN BENEFITS PROVIDED UPON 
              RETIREMENT.

    ``(a) General Rule.--Subject to subsection (b), benefits provided 
under a group health plan with respect to a participant upon the 
participant's retirement based on age, service, disability, or any 
combination thereof may not thereafter be terminated or reduced.
    ``(b) Exception for Limitations Provided by Plan.--Subsection (a) 
shall not apply with respect to any termination or reduction in 
benefits to the extent that--
            ``(1) the terms of the plan, as in effect on the date of 
        such retirement, provide for such termination or reduction, and
            ``(2) written notice of such terms providing for such 
        termination or reduction has been provided to the participant 
        on or before such date.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of such 
Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 609 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 610. Termination or reduction in benefits provided upon 
                            retirement.''.

SEC. 3. RULES GOVERNING LITIGATION INVOLVING THE TERMINATION OR 
              REDUCTION OF BENEFITS PROVIDED UPON RETIREMENT.

    (a) Cause of Action.--Section 502(a) of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(7) by a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary, or by an 
        employee organization on behalf of one or more participants or 
        beneficiaries, to enjoin any act or practice which violates 
        section 610.''.
    (b) Related Provisions.--Section 502 of such Act is further amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(m)(1) In any action under subsection (a)(7), if the plaintiff 
has received notice of a termination or reduction in benefits described 
in section 610(a) and has reason to believe that such termination or 
reduction is not provided for in the terms of the plan, the court 
shall, upon proper showing--
            ``(A) grant a temporary injunction or restraining order 
        against such termination or reduction without bond, pending a 
        final decision, and
            ``(B) grant a permanent injunction against such termination 
        or reduction or other appropriate equitable relief unless a 
        defendant in such action establishes by a preponderance of the 
        evidence that the requirements of section 610(b) are met with 
        respect to such termination or reduction.
    ``(2) An employee organization may intervene on behalf of a 
participant or beneficiary in any action brought under subsection 
(a)(7) by such participant or beneficiary.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to actions relating to 
terminations or reductions in benefits which are pending or commenced 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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