hare grows.(11) Unable to afford insurance,
these uninsured patients struggle to find treatment as financially
strapped hospitals are cutting back on charity services.(12)
The collapse of health care legislation left two forms of federal
involvement. First, the government remains a major buyer of health care
in the private market through Medicare and Medicaid.(13) Second, it
serves as the protector of the private sector's efforts to expand the
scope of coverage through the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974 (ERISA).(14) ERISA encourages employers to fund their own health
care plans, which may be operated by a managed care organization, such
ERISA-governed plans now cover more than one-half of all American
workers. The Act's preemption of a broad range of state laws, including
actions for injuries and wrongful death resulting from negligence by the
plan's physicians or administrators, provides inducement to employers
...