Sponsors (8)
Allows qualifying employer associations to be treated as a single employer for ERISA purposes and to sponsor association health plans with pooled rating and specified membership/governance rules while preserving federal nondiscrimination and pre‑existing condition protections.
Official title: Amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to clarify the treatment of certain association health plans as employers, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Rand Paul · Last progress May 21, 2025
This bill expands access to association-based group coverage and preserves key consumer protections, but it increases administrative complexity and creates trade-offs that may raise costs for some employers and produce uneven protections across states and worker groups.
People with health conditions (including those with pre-existing conditions) are protected from underwriting discrimination: plans cannot deny coverage or charge based on health status.
More small employers, their employees, and many self-employed individuals gain access to group coverage by joining association-based or pooled group plans, increasing coverage options and the potential for lower premiums through larger risk pools.
Association/group plans remain subject to federal ERISA and PHSA rules, preserving established consumer protections and providing regulatory clarity for employers and insurers.
New association/group arrangements create additional compliance and administrative burdens (governance, monitoring, ERISA compliance) that can raise plan administrative costs and ultimately increase premiums for small employers and workers.
If not tightly regulated in practice, association plans can offer variable benefit designs or weaker network and consumer protections, reducing coverage quality for enrollees.
Permitting employer-level actuarial adjustments can raise costs for higher-risk small employers and their employees and may incentivize risk-selection or advantage larger employers that can better manage their risk profiles.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Treats a qualifying association or group of employers as a single “employer” for certain federal employee welfare benefit plan rules so those associations can offer association health plans (AHPs) across multiple employers, including rules for membership, governance, minimum size, and treatment of self‑employed persons. It permits pooled, modified community rating with adjustments for each member’s risk (and special single‑rate rules for groups only of self‑employed persons) while preserving federal nondiscrimination and pre‑existing condition protections and keeping other ERISA and Public Health Service Act requirements in force.