[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1268 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1268

   To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 with 
    respect to rules governing litigation contesting termination or 
                 reduction of retiree health benefits.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 20 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

  Mr. Wofford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 with 
    respect to rules governing litigation contesting termination or 
                 reduction of retiree health benefits.

    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''.

SEC. 2. RULES GOVERNING LITIGATION INVOLVING THE TERMINATION OR 
              REDUCTION OF RETIREE HEALTH BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--Part 5 of subtitle B of title I of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 516. RULES GOVERNING LITIGATION INVOLVING RETIREE HEALTH 
              BENEFITS.

    ``(a) Maintenance of Benefits.--If--
            ``(1) retiree health benefits are to be terminated or 
        reduced under an employee welfare benefit plan, and
            ``(2) an action is brought to enjoin or otherwise modify 
        such termination or reduction,
the court shall order the plan to maintain the retiree health benefits 
at the level in effect immediately before the termination or reduction 
while the action is pending. The preceding sentence shall not apply to 
any action which the court determines is clearly without merit.
    ``(b) Burden of Proof.--If, in any action described in subsection 
(a)(2), the terms of the employee welfare benefit plan (as in effect at 
the time of an employee's retirement or disability) are ambiguous or 
silent as to whether retiree health benefits may be terminated or 
reduced under the plan, the benefits shall not be terminated or reduced 
unless the plan (or the employer or employers maintaining it) 
establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that the plan (as so in 
effect) allows such termination or reduction.
    ``(c) Representation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
an employee representative of any retired employee or the employee's 
spouse or dependents may--
            ``(1) bring an action described in subsection (a)(2) on 
        behalf of such employee, spouse, or dependents, or
            ``(2) appear in such an action on behalf of such employee, 
        spouse, or dependents.
    ``(d) Retiree Health Benefits.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `retiree health benefits' means health benefits (including 
coverage) which are provided to--
            ``(1) retired or disabled employees who, immediately before 
        the termination or reduction, are entitled to receive such 
        benefits upon retirement or becoming disabled, and
            ``(2) their spouses and dependents.''
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1 of 
such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 515 
the following new item:

``Sec. 516. Rules governing litigation involving retiree health 
                            benefits.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to actions relating to terminations or reductions of retiree 
health benefits which are pending, or brought, on or after July 20, 
1993.

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