Sponsor
Joe Courtney
Representative · D-CT
Representative · D-CT
The bill expands access to legal help for people disputing employer-sponsored benefit denials by funding law‑school clinics and agency referrals, improving benefit recovery but relying on limited federal funding and student-driven programs that may be uneven in scale, continuity, and geographic reach.
People denied employer-sponsored health or welfare benefits or facing provider collection actions gain access to free legal representation for appeals and defense, improving their ability to obtain owed benefits and avoid collections.
Accredited law students receive supervised clinical experience, increasing practical training and expanding the pool of lawyers able to handle benefits and ERISA cases.
EBSA (DOL) advisors can connect beneficiaries to local legal clinics, making it easier for consumers to navigate denials and appeals.
The program is funded from federal dollars (~$5 million annually), increasing taxpayer expense and modestly affecting federal spending priorities.
Capped grant awards and reliance on student-run clinics may limit program scale and continuity, leaving unmet legal needs and less consistent representation in complex ERISA cases.
Grants favor programs at accredited law schools, creating geographic and access inequities that may leave rural or otherwise underserved communities with less help.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates competitive grants for accredited law schools to run attorney‑supervised clinics that help people obtain and enforce ERISA plan benefits, authorized $5M/year for FY2026–2030.
Official title: To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to establish a grant program to enable law students to assist participants and beneficiaries in certain civil enforcement actions, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 16, 2026 by Joe Courtney · Last progress July 16, 2026
Creates a federal competitive grant program that gives accredited law schools funding to plan, develop, or operate attorney‑supervised clinical programs, externships, or pro bono programs that help people obtain benefits under employer‑sponsored welfare plans governed by ERISA. Grants may fund representation in appeals, litigation to enforce benefits, defense against provider claims for unpaid patient costs, and reasonable supervising attorney costs. Authorizes $5,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 and caps awards to any single institution at $500,000 per year. The Department of Labor must accept applications and coordinate outreach with its benefit advisors and state consumer assistance or ombudsman programs where appropriate.