Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2005

H.R. 1322, the Emergency Retiree Health Benefits Protection Act of 2005, was designed to prevent employers from reducing or eliminating health insurance benefits for workers after they have already retired. The bill would have required companies to maintain the level of health coverage promised to retirees at the time of their retirement and mandated the restoration of any benefits that had been previously cut. To assist companies facing financial difficulty in meeting these requirements, the legislation proposed a federal loan guarantee program to help fund these health obligations. While the bill aimed to provide long-term medical security for retirees, it did not pass and expired at the end of the 109th Congress.